The Only Exception
by AdriannaAJ
Summary: Arizona finds a teenage girl on the street and takes her in where the girl learns the true meaning of family, all while falling in love along the way.
1. Chapter 1

_Edited: 1/5/2015_

Arizona Robbins walked down the dark streets of Seattle towards her apartment. It had been a long and hard day for the pediatric surgeon that had left her physically and emotionally drained. She had lost a patient and another was getting worse, odds are she would die too.

She pulled her jacket tighter against her body, shaking from the cold. It was another cold and windy night. She felt bad for anyone having to walk around in this weather, herself included. Nights like this made Arizona wish she lived somewhere warmer but she couldn't deny how beautiful it was here and working at Seattle Grace- Mercy West was worth being cold.

Arizona wasn't paying attention, too focused on her own thoughts to notice the world around her, and bumped into a young girl. The weight of the bag the other girl was carrying and Arizona bumping into her was enough to send her crashing to the ground. "Oh my god," Arizona exclaimed, horrified at what she had done. "I am so sorry."

Arizona held her hand out and helped the other girl off the ground. "It's ok," the girl mumbled not making eye contact with Arizona. "I deserve it," she added quietly so the older woman couldn't hear.

The doctor studied the girl. She was young, most likely a teenager though she couldn't guess the exact age, and definitely Hispanic. She had long chocolate brown hair with hints of red which Arizona could tell was professionally done and not natural. She was beautiful even though she looked exhausted. She had no jacket with a short sleeve shirt and was shaking uncontrollably. She looked as if she hadn't eaten in a while and Arizona was certain she had a black eye that was covered with makeup.

Arizona checked her phone. It was already after 11pm so Callie was probably already sleeping and wouldn't be worried about her. "Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" Arizona asked. It was the least she could do after knocking her down and Arizona wanted to get the girl some food and allow her to warm up a bit. Arizona couldn't help but wonder if the girl was homeless, she certainly had enough packed in her bag.

"No, I should go," the girl said. She wanted, no needed, to get away from Arizona. Arizona was being too nice to her and she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve anything.

Arizona gently touched her arm and the girl flinched. "Please let me buy you some coffee," Arizona insisted. She pretended not to notice the girl flinch but she did and Arizona had a bad feeling someone hurt this girl. A surge of protectiveness flooded Arizona and she made it her mission to keep this girl safe and give her a good home.

The young brunette stared at the doctor. She couldn't understand why she was being nice. No one was ever nice without an ulterior motive and she dreaded finding out what the doctor's motive was. "Okay," she agreed. It would be nice to go somewhere warm for a short amount of time and she didn't think Arizona would let her leave without getting coffee. Arizona took off her jacket and offered it to the girl and she reluctantly took it. The girl was freezing and Arizona didn't mind being cold for a while.

"My name is Arizona Robbins," Arizona said trying to make the girl relax a bit. She led the girl down the street to a diner that was open all night. She had been here many times throughout her time in Seattle. "Can you tell me your name?"

"It's Claire, Claire Rivera," Claire answered.

"Claire, that is a beautiful name," Arizona said smiling at the brunette. There weren't many people in the diner but at this time of night the diner usually wasn't busy. The host immediately sat them down at a table near the window.

"What can I get you ladies?" the waitress asked, pen in hand.

"Two regular coffees," Arizona answered.

"Anything to eat?" she asked, writing down the coffees on her notepad.

"Claire, are you hungry?" Arizona asked. Claire was starving but didn't want Arizona to buy her food so she shook her head no. Arizona knew better. Working as a doctor she was used to being hungry and she knew the signs of hunger. She was hungry too, having worked a double shift with not a lot of meal breaks during. "Can we get the sampler and an extra order of mozzarella sticks and two waters to go with the food?"

The waitress wrote down the order and left. "You didn't have to do that," Claire said embarrassed.

"You look hungry besides I knocked you on the ground the least I can do is buy you food," Arizona said kindly. "What are you doing outside, alone after 11pm?"

"No reason," Claire said avoiding making eye contact again. She grabbed the coffee the waitress sat down and slowly drank it. She wasn't a big fan of coffee and cared more about the heat than the actual drink.

"Do you need a ride home?" Arizona asked. She wanted to do something for the girl but wasn't sure what she could do. She hoped her question would give her a better idea of the girl's living situation.

"No thanks," Claire answered immediately. She didn't have a home anymore. She didn't even have a family. She had nowhere to go.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Arizona asked. All the pieces had fallen into place and Arizona was now 100% certain Claire was homeless. She was also aware that there was more to the story than that.

Claire stared openmouthed at Arizona. "How did you know?" she whispered.

"Bag of stuff that looks like it weighs more than you do, you look like you haven't eaten or slept in days, you have no jacket and you seem scared of something or someone. And if I'm not mistaken it looks like you're hiding a black eye under makeup," Arizona explained. "Look you don't have to tell me anything but at least stay with me, if you don't you will freeze to death and you are just a kid you need some place to stay."

"Why are you being nice?" Claire asked. Her parents threw her out and this stranger was offering her a place to live. It seemed too good to be true. She hoped this woman wasn't going to hit her, she had enough bruises and she didn't really want more.

"I am always nice," was Arizona's answer. The food came and Arizona gestured for her to eat. The girl looked at the food hungrily and started grabbing some of everything. Arizona laughed quietly hoping she didn't upset Claire.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be a pig," Claire said looking down in embarrassment. She dropped the chicken wing she was holding.

Arizona touched her arm and was happy this time she didn't flinch as badly as before. "Please eat as much as you want. I can always order more food."

Arizona paid the bill when they finished and she held the door open for Claire. Claire moved to take off Arizona's jacket and give it back to her but Arizona stopped her. "Keep the jacket for now. I'm at least wearing a long sleeve shirt. You're not."

Claire nodded and zipped up the jacket. "Thanks."

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" Arizona asked. She just remembered it was Thursday night. She glanced at her watch. Well it was Friday morning now.

"No tomorrow is some teacher work day or something, no school," Claire answered. They walked into Arizona's building which was only a few blocks from the diner.

Arizona was relieved. "That's good. I am off tomorrow too unless there is an emergency."

"What do you do?" Claire asked curious.

"I'm a pediatric surgeon at Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital," she replied.

"That sounds cool, I mean not cool because of the sick kids, but interesting, I mean-"

Arizona cut her off. "I know what you mean, don't worry about it." Arizona opened the door to her apartment. "You can set your bag anywhere."

Claire looked around and set her bag off in the corner where it was hopefully out of the way. She took the jacket off and laid it on the back of a chair. Arizona turned the heater on so they could warm up. "Do you have pajamas?" Arizona asked. Claire shook her head. She didn't even think about grabbing pajamas. "Don't worry about it; I have some you can borrow." Arizona made her way to her bedroom and pulled out some clean pajamas. She went back to the living room and handed them to Claire. "Here you can go change in the bathroom while I make some hot coco." Arizona pointed out where the bathroom was.

Claire thanked her and made her way to the bathroom. She pulled her clothes off, shivering slightly from the cold. She winced when she saw the bruises littering her body. She pulled on Arizona's clothes. There were a little too big but they were still comfortable. She walked back to the kitchen and sat down on a bar stool. "Claire, how old are you?" Arizona asked.

"15 almost 16," she said quietly.

Arizona tried to hide how sad she was. She couldn't understand why parents would do something like this. "Why did your parents kick you out?"

Claire shook her head. She couldn't answer that, she didn't want Arizona to kick her out too. "I can't say," she said hoping the blonde wouldn't push her.

Arizona had a feeling it was bad but she was uncertain how bad. She didn't look pregnant so she doubted that was the reason but it didn't mean she wasn't pregnant. Arizona handed Claire a cup of hot chocolate. "Do you have clothes that need to be washed? I was planning on doing laundry tomorrow so I can clean your clothes then."

"Yeah I do, thanks," Claire said. Claire was more concerned about the pile of homework she had. She was most likely going to spend all day doing it. After they finished their hot coco Arizona checked the clock.

"It's after one in the morning, we should go to sleep," Arizona said, standing up and dumping the cups in the sink.

"Ok," Claire agreed. Arizona made a bed for Claire on her couch. She wasn't sure where the girl should sleep but thought the couch would be ok at least for the next couple nights, just until she could get the spare bedroom ready for her. She made sure Claire was okay and she went to her bedroom to change her clothes and crawl into bed.

Arizona couldn't sleep. She was exhausted but all she could do was think about the teenage girl sleeping on her couch. She heard a knock on the door and a small voice. "Arizona?" Claire called quietly. Arizona flipped the lamp light on.

"Come on in," Arizona called.

"I'm sorry but I… I can't sleep. Can I… is it alright if I sleep in here with you?" Claire asked uncertain. She felt embarrassed for needing someone but she trusted Arizona at least for now until Arizona found out the truth.

"Sure," Arizona said. She felt bad for the girl. She had no one to rely and she was just a kid and needed a parent, someone to care about her.

Arizona scooted over and patted the bed next to her. Claire climbed in next to her and pulled the blankets over her. Claire was shaking slightly and Arizona rolled over and wrapped her arms around Claire. "You need to relax," Arizona said gently rubbing her back. Arizona waited until Claire relaxed and finally fell asleep and rolled over back to the other side of the bed.

The next morning Arizona heard someone knocking on the door. She glanced at Claire and saw she was still sleeping. She looked so peaceful. She climbed out of bed hoping not to wake the girl and grabbed her robe. She pulled her front door open to see Callie smiling at her. "Hey," Callie said leaning forward to kiss her.

"Calliope," Arizona replied smiling. After a long night she was happy to see her girlfriend. "Come on in."

"Are you ok Arizona?" Callie asked concerned.

"Fine, why?" Arizona asked confused.

"I've been calling you for over an hour, we were supposed to meet for breakfast."

"Oh," Arizona said. Her eyes lit up in understanding. "Callie I'm so sorry, I got out of work late and then I went and ate and we didn't get to sleep until after one."

"We?" Callie asked raising an eyebrow. She didn't think Arizona would cheat on her and then tell her about it but she was certain she heard her say we.

"Yeah," Arizona said. She wasn't thinking and didn't realize Callie had no idea who Claire was or that she was going to stay with Arizona. "Claire and I were talking and she couldn't sleep so I let her sleep in my room."

"You slept with another woman?" Callie asked hurt. A part of Callie thought it was karma, she cheated on Erica with Mark and now Arizona cheated on her with this Claire person.

"No Callie it's not like that, she is 15," Arizona said trying to explain herself. She winced at how it sounded.

"You had sex with a teenage girl? What the hell were you thinking Arizona? You could go to jail," Callie yelled. Callie couldn't help but think how gross Arizona being with a girl half her age was. Callie shuddered at the image.

"Callie keep your voice down," Arizona hissed. "I did not have sex with her. I found her walking the streets last night alone. Her parents kicked her out but I don't know why and it was freezing you can't expect me to leave her there."

Callie stepped forward and hugged her girlfriend. "Sorry, guess I am a little crazy today."

Arizona laughed. "Great that means I am the sane one for a change."

"How long is she staying?" Callie asked.

"I don't know," Arizona sighed. "She can stay as long as she wants, as long as she needs a place to stay which will probably be for a while."

"What kind of parent could kick their child out?" Callie wondered. Arizona didn't have an answer. She could think of a few reasons but none of them justified what those people had done.

A few minutes later Claire walked out of the bedroom rubbing her shoulder. Carrying her bag around all the time was taking a toll on the young girl. "Good morning Claire," Arizona said smiling at her guest. "I was getting ready to make breakfast, are you hungry?"

"Yeah a little," Claire answered glancing at the older Latina woman.

"Oh right sorry," Arizona said when she saw Claire eyeing Callie. "Claire this is my girlfriend Calliope Torres, Callie this is Claire Rivera."

"Hablas español?" Callie asked the brunette.

"Si," Claire replied.

"Un lote o solo poco?" Callie questioned. Arizona loved when Callie spoke Spanish even if she didn't understand her most of the time.

"Poco," Claire replied. Her parents both spoke Spanish but she didn't learn a lot.

"Very nice," Callie said. "It's nice to meet you."

Claire turned to Arizona. "You are gay?" she asked hoping she didn't sound rude.

"Yes," Arizona answered unashamed.

Both doctors noticed the girl relax. Claire was happy she didn't have to worry about Arizona kicking her out. It was one less thing to worry about. "Is your shoulder alright?" Callie asked. She had watched the brunette rub her shoulder more than once.

"It's fine, just a little sore; I think I pulled a muscle or something," Claire replied. There was no need for Callie to be worried about her.

"Callie is a doctor too. She's an orthopedic surgeon," Arizona informed Claire. "She might be able to help, if you let her."

Claire nodded and Callie stepped toward the girl and gently touched her shoulder. Claire flinched and Callie withdrew her hands. Arizona gave Callie a look of encouragement and Callie touched the girl again. This time she didn't flinch. Callie was gentle as she felt around the girls shoulder. "I found the problem," Callie announced. "You didn't pull a muscle. Your shoulder is dislocated. It's not bad just needs to be popped back into place."

"Can you fix it here?" Arizona asked since Claire wasn't speaking.

"I can but it's going to hurt a bit. Arizona can you get some aspirin ready? She is going to need it." Arizona grabbed some pain medication out of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and brought it to Claire. "This is going to hurt," Callie warned Claire.

Claire didn't say anything, she just waited. Callie carefully positioned her hands and twisted Claire's shoulder back into place. Claire never said a word just flinched slightly at the pain. "Why don't you take a shower while I finish cooking," Arizona suggested in order to give the girl some privacy.

Since Arizona was busy Callie showed Claire where everything was. "Take your time," Callie told the girl before shutting the door.

"Well I think I know why she was kicked out," Arizona said when Callie came back to the kitchen.

"Why's that?" Callie asked. She had no clue.

"I think she is gay," Arizona told her clueless girlfriend.

Callie stared at her girlfriend. "What makes you think she is gay?"

"Well I have excellent gaydar for one," Arizona said with a grin.

"You got a gay vibe from her?" Callie questioned. Callie didn't really have a gaydar as Arizona was well aware of.

"No I didn't, I didn't get any vibe from her but you saw her relax when I told her you were my girlfriend. I think she was scared I would kick her out if I found out and that's why she didn't tell me before," Arizona explained.

"Not everyone is gay honey," Callie reminded her.

"I know that Callie but it does explain why her parents kicked her out," Arizona said sadly. Her own parents were okay with her being gay but she knew Callie's parents hadn't taken it well.

"True," Callie said. She had finally repaired her relationship with her dad but she was sure her parents would have kicked her out when she was a teenager if she told them then. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to be there for her and wait for her to tell me in case I am wrong," Arizona said. She stuck the bacon in the hot pan.

"Arizona there is something you should know," Callie said. She wasn't sure if she should tell her girlfriend this but she thought it would help Claire.

"What is it?"

"When I was checking her shoulder I saw some bruises, maybe a few days old. They were pretty bad; I think her parents may have hit her before they threw her out."

Tears fell down Arizona's cheeks. "Who would do such a horrible thing?" Arizona asked wiping away the tear. "I think she has a black eye too. She covered it with makeup but I could still see it."

Callie clenched her fists. She hated child abuse more than anything. "I don't know Arizona but we will keep her safe. I will talk to my dad and see what we can do to help her," Callie said. "I promise you we will protect her."


	2. Chapter 2

Claire walked into the kitchen to find Callie holding a sobbing Arizona. Claire immediately blamed herself for whatever was wrong with the blonde doctor and she turned and ran to the bedroom. Arizona looked up at the last minute and saw the girl running. "Crap," Arizona said pushing Callie away so she could get up.

Arizona looked between her bedroom door and the food unsure what she should do. "I'll finish here, you go talk to her," Callie said making the decision for her. Arizona nodded and made her way to her bedroom. She gently knocked on the door.

"Claire, can I come in?" Arizona asked the young girl.

"Sure," Claire answered. She thought Arizona was strange, it was her apartment and her room but she asked permission to come in.

Arizona didn't say anything else. She opened the door and made her way to her bed and sat down next to Claire. "When I was a senior in high school I had a poster of Cindy Crawford. My mother wasn't surprised I was gay. I thought my father was going to kick me out but he didn't, instead he changed his ideas because I am his daughter. He asked if I was still the same person, to him that's all that mattered." Arizona looked at Claire and saw she was crying. "Who did you have a poster of?"

"Megan Fox," Claire answered softly. "My friend, Seth, got it for me as a way of telling me he was ok with who I was. My mama found it a few nights ago and she was furious, it wasn't exactly the most appropriate photo but I still didn't expect her to react the way she did. She started yelling in Spanish and I couldn't understand half of it. Then my papa got home and he was even angrier."

"Did they both hit you?" Arizona asked. Claire stared at the blonde. How the hell did she know? "Callie saw the bruises."

"My mama slapped me but my papa hoped to beat the gay out of me. Then when I told him I wasn't going to change he told me to go pack up what I could and get out."

"Can I see the bruises?" Arizona asked. She wanted to make sure the injuries weren't too bad.

Claire stared at Arizona's dresseruncomfortable at the idea before she realized Arizona was just worried about her. She turned around and rolled her shirt up. Arizona gasped as she saw some bruises on her back and Claire turned around and Arizona saw a lot more bruises on her stomach. "Callie," Arizona yelled.

Callie ran into the bedroom afraid something had happened to one or both women. "What's wrong?" Callie asked bursting into the room. She looked at her girlfriend then at the teenage girl and her eyes grew wide. "Ay dios mios," Callie muttered. Claire lowered her shirt. "Mija who did this to you?"

Arizona and Claire stared at Callie. The older woman was completely unaware that she just called Claire daughter. "Mi papa," Claire answered.

"All of the bruises?" Callie asked horrified.

"No, the bruise here," Claire said pointing to a bruise on her side. "Is from Arizona knocking me to the ground by accident." Arizona felt horrible. This girl was battered enough and she added to the pain. "It was an accident Arizona, I don't blame you."

Callie moved closer. "Do you mind if I check them? I want to make sure you have no broken ribs." Claire nodded and lifted the shirt up again. "I need to see the bruises on your collarbone too."

Arizona glanced at Claire, who was start to shake and thought it would be best for her to leave the room. "I will go set the table." Callie offered Arizona a small smile before turning her attention back to the young Latina.

After Arizona left the room Claire pulled the shirt off wincing at the pain in her shoulder. Callie's heart broke for this poor girl and she decided to make conversation in hopes of keeping her calm. "Where is your family from?" Callie asked.

"Mi papa es de Puerto Rico y mi mama es de Mexico," Claire answered.

"Very nice, have you been to Puerto Rico or Mexico?"

"I went to Mexico once but never to Puerto Rico."

"Is Arizona right, are you gay?" Callie asked.

A few tears fell down Claire's cheek. "Yes."

"Hey mija, don't cry, everything will be ok. Arizona and I will take care of you, Arizona already loves you like a daughter and so do I," Callie said wiping away the tears. "About six months ago I told my father I was bisexual, he took the news badly. He cut me off financially and all my family ignored me. Then about a month ago he came back with a priest in hopes of 'praying away the gay'. Arizona ended up talking to him and he later accepted me. Now he is extremely supportive and I got my trust fund back, although that's not the important part." Callie helped Claire put the shirt back on; she had found no broken ribs. "Not all parents are like Arizona's and not all parents are like my dad, my mom still hates who I am, but no one and I mean no one has the right to hit their child because something happened that you had no control over. No parent has a right to hit their child period."

"Thanks Callie," Claire said. She tried to smile but it came out as a grimace.

"You don't have any broken ribs so that's good, shall we go eat now?" Callie asked standing up and offering her hand.

"Sure," Claire said. This time she had a real smile on her face.

Arizona, Callie and Claire sat down to a nice breakfast. It was the first home cooked meal Claire had in days and she loved it. "I think we should shop today," Arizona announced. "Claire needs clothes and things for her new room and maybe some school stuff."

"Room?" Claire asked. She wasn't aware she had a room.

"Yeah, if you want then you can live here, with me. I have a spare bedroom that you can have we just need to get things to make you feel more at home." Claire started crying again.

"I don't know what to say," Claire said.

"Say yes or Arizona will keep bugging you," Callie said.

Claire laughed. "Yes I will stay."

"Great, Callie do you think you can talk to your dad, see what he knows about adoption?"

"Adoption?" Callie and Claire asked.

"Yeah," Arizona said smiling at the young girl. "The adoption is so you can be on my health care and I can take you out of school and for emergencies and just because I want to adopt you. You need a parent, a good parent, someone who would never hurt you and if you would let me I would like to be that parent."

Claire got up and hugged Arizona tightly. "Thanks," Claire whispered into her ear.

After they ate Arizona and Claire did the dishes while Callie called her father. Callie chuckled softly as she watched the two doing dishes, they were making a mess. After the fifth ring Carlos Torres answered the phone. "_Hello_."

"Hi daddy," Callie said.

"_Calliope how are you and Arizona_?" he asked. Callie smiled, he really had changed.

"We are both fine thanks. I need your advice." Callie made her way to Arizona's bedroom so Claire wouldn't hear the conversation in case her father didn't take the news well.

"_Advice on what_?" He was hoping to avoid the sex talk with his daughter.

"Arizona found a teenage girl on the street and she wants to adopt her. We need to know if it's possible and what she needs to do it."

"_Calliope it is not that simple, Arizona cannot just take a child in_."

"Daddy her father beat her before kicking her out of the house."

"_Why was she kicked out_?" Carlos asked. He was angry, he hated men who would abuse their children.

"She is gay," Callie said quietly. He may be ok with her but she wasn't sure how he would react to another gay person.

Carlos sighed. This was awful and he had to do something to help. "_Arizona can get adoption papers and have her parents sign them and have the girl sign them. If her parents agree than the process will be simple. If not than Arizona will have to petition the courts for custody. Since they kicked her out and hit her Arizona will have no problem winning especially if this girl wants to live with her. What is this girl's name?"_

"Claire Rivera," Callie said.

"_Latina girl I couldn't have picked someone better."_

Callie laughed. "She isn't going to be my daughter daddy; she will be Arizona's daughter."

"_Not true, she will be both of your daughters_."

"Thanks daddy, I have to go."

"_Goodbye Calliope, tell Arizona I said hi_."

Callie walked back into the kitchen and they were finished with the dishes. "I see you figured out the water belongs in the sink," Callie said laughing. Arizona and Claire exchanged a looked and Arizona grabbed the sprayer and soaked Callie.

Callie started ranting in Spanish and Claire was laughing. "What is she saying?" Arizona asked curious. She hoped Callie wasn't mad at her. They just wanted to have some fun.

"She is saying something about crazy women playing with water indoors and now she has to change. She is talking too fast I can't understand it all," Claire answered.

"Why don't you stay here while I help find something for Callie to wear?" Arizona suggested. Claire nodded and the doctors made their way to the bedroom.

Claire went to her backpack and pulled out her homework. She figured she could get started on it while she waited. Unfortunately for her Callie and Arizona didn't take very long. They were giggling when they walked into the living room. "Oh we didn't mean to interrupt," Callie said.

"It's ok, I'm not focusing well right now," Claire said setting her pencil down.

"Are you ready to shop?" Callie asked.

"Sure," Claire said. She left out the part where she had no money.

"Don't worry about money," Arizona said. She could read the girl's face. "I am paying for everything."

"Actually I am but the idea is still the same," Callie corrected. "Come on mija lets shop."

Arizona grabbed her bag and the three women left.


	3. Chapter 3

"Where are we going first?" Callie asked once everyone was buckled up. Claire stayed silent. It wasn't her business to decide anything since she had no money to pay for things. It didn't feel right letting Callie pay for stuff but she doubted that Callie or Arizona would listen to her if she said she didn't want them to buy her anything. Claire was planning on getting a job at some point so she could pay for her own things.

"Let's focus on necessary items first," Arizona suggested. "Then we can go for things Claire wants. Head to the mall, please."

Callie did as Arizona said and drove straight to the mall. "Claire you are quiet is everything ok?" Callie asked.

"I'm fine, just thinking," Claire replied. Arizona held the door open for Claire and Callie when they got to the mall.

"Do you have hobbies?" Callie asked. Just because they weren't shopping for fun stuff right now didn't mean Callie couldn't get some ideas for a moving in present.

"No, my parents didn't believe in hobbies. They thought hobbies would distract me."

"Well is there something you like to do but they wouldn't let you?" Arizona asked. She wanted the girl to have a chance to do what she wanted.

"I love drawing," Claire admitted. "I took an art class last year just so I could draw."

"Alright we can get you some art supplies," Callie said. Claire started to protest but Callie stopped her. "You should have a hobby, something you like to do so you're not stressed out. Besides I'm a bit of an artist myself and it would be fun to share my skills with someone."

"Shall we look for clothes first?" Arizona asked. Both of the Latina women nodded.

They walked into Aeropostale and Callie and Claire started browsing through shirts. "Did your parents let you put the red in your hair?" Callie asked curious. The girls' parents seemed very strict and Callie couldn't see them letting her doing that.

"No," Claire laughed. "I was at Seth's house one night and his sister said I would look good with red in my hair so I let her do it. She is a hairdresser and she did it for free. My parents were furious when they found out."

Callie glanced at her girlfriend, who was busy grabbing every shirt and pair of jeans she could find. "Did your parents ever hit you before?" Callie asked lowering her voice. Claire looked up at Arizona and couldn't help but think the blonde doctor was a little crazy.

"No," Claire answered honestly. "They would just ground me or take away my phone. That particular incident they forbade me from seeing Seth for a few days."

"Claire I'm not sure what size you are so I grabbed a couple different sizes of the same style for you to try on," Arizona said happily. She missed the conversation between the Latinas. Arizona dragged Claire to the fitting room and pushed her inside so she could try on the clothes.

"Arizona don't you think you are going a little overboard?" Callie asked. They walked out of the dressing area and to the shirts so Arizona could pick out some more.

"Callie she needs clothes and I just want to give her stuff she needs and stuff she has missed out on. I mean what kind of parent doesn't let their child have a hobby?" Arizona focused on remaining calm. She didn't want to start crying in a store.

"Arizona I want to get her a present, will you be ok for a little while?" Callie asked.

"Sure," Arizona said wondering what Callie was planning.

"She is probably going to need help getting changed. Her shoulder is still sore," Callie told her. She kissed Arizona's forehead and left to find the art store.

Sure enough a few minutes later Claire called for Arizona's help. "Arizona?" Claire called.

Arizona grabbed the shirts and went to Claire's dressing room. "Do you need some help honey?" the doctor asked.

"Please," Claire said pushing the dressing room door open. Arizona walked in and shut the door behind her. Claire's shirt was rolled up so she could see what she was doing and Arizona's heart broke at all the bruises she saw.

"Ok hold still," Arizona instructed. Claire did as she was told and Arizona started to pull the jeans up. They were almost on when Arizona stopped. "What is that?" Arizona asked pointing to the inside of Claire's thigh. Arizona looked up at the girl and saw her blushing.

"My tattoo," Claire mumbled. Arizona finished pulling the pants on and helped button them up.

"These fit nice," Arizona said stepping back to admire her handy work. "Care to explain how and why a fifteen year old girl has a tattoo and if you don't mind the meaning of it."

"Seth and I have fake IDs and we, well he, came up with an idea that we would each get a tattoo in a spot that only our significant other would see. He got one too but a different kind. My tattoo is the Chinese symbol for love because only someone I love is meant to see it."

Arizona studied the girl and realized Claire's reasoning behind the tattoo was actually a well thought out reason, at least to the girl in question. "Do you still have the ID?" Arizona asked. Claire nodded. "When we get home I want that ID and don't think about getting another one. It isn't safe for a girl your age to be using fake IDs."

"Yes mom," Claire said. She had meant it as a joke but Arizona's face lit up at the words and she made a mental note to call the doctor mom more often.

"How do the pants feel?" Arizona asked.

"Good, a little big though," Claire replied.

"Well after we get some more food into you, you will fill the pants out better. Now that I have your size I'm going to go put back the extras a grab you a few more pairs in your size," Arizona said grabbing a bunch of pants.

She left the dressing room to find Callie was back. "Hey how did it go?" Callie asked checking out all the pants in her hands.

"Good, I now know what size she wears so that will be helpful. Did you not find anything?" Arizona didn't see any bags in Callie's hands.

"I did, I put the bag in the car so I could surprise her later. I figured after we finished here we could drop the stuff off at your apartment and I could give it to her then, then maybe we could eat before getting the rest of her things," Callie said.

"Sounds good Calliope," Arizona said smiling. She put back the pants and searched for more in Claire's size. Once she had a few more she knocked on the dressing room door. "Claire, it's me."

Claire opened the door to let Arizona in. "Do I have to try all of these on?" she asked looking at several pairs of pants in Arizona's hands.

"No, these are all your size so you should be good. Just try on a few shirts so we can get the proper size," Arizona said.

Twenty minutes and several hundred dollars later the three women were on their way back to Arizona's apartment. Arizona and Callie carried the bags inside; Callie had refused to let Claire help because of her shoulder. "Claire I got you a present," Callie said after all the clothes were put into Claire's bedroom.

"Callie you didn't have to do that," Claire said embarrassed.

Callie watched the girl wondering if her parents ever gave her gifts. "I know but I wanted to." Callie handed Claire the bag and Arizona came into the living room to see Claire's reaction.

Claire pulled her gift out of the bag and gasped. Inside was a large sketchpad and charcoal and color pencils. "Oh my god, Callie this is amazing. Thank you so much," Claire said. She jumped off the couch and launched herself into Callie's arms.

"I'm glad you like it and I can't wait to see some of your drawings," Callie said hugging the girl tightly. "Why don't you go put that into your room and we can go out for lunch."

Claire grabbed her things and started to walk to her room when Arizona stopped her, "Bring me that ID."

"What ID?" Callie asked as Claire went through her bags looking for it.

"She has a fake ID and used it to get a tattoo," Arizona said. Claire came back and handed it to Arizona. "People actually believed you were nineteen?"

"Yeah," Claire said. Arizona stuck the ID in her back pocket.

"Is the birthday on this true?" Arizona asked. If it was that meant Claire's birthday was in two weeks and Arizona needed to start preparing.

"Yes it is I just got the year changed."

"Come on ladies, let's go eat, I'm starving," Callie said.

After a few hours Arizona, Callie and Claire managed to get everything Claire needed plus some extra things. When the bags were put into Claire's room she excused herself to go do her homework. "What are you thinking Arizona?"

"Her birthday is in two weeks. I was thinking about having a party, we could invite some people from the hospital and she could invite her friend."

"Ok, I will talk to Mark," Callie said. She didn't want to invite everyone but Mark was her best friend and she thought Claire and him would get along well.

"I'm going to pick up the adoption papers tomorrow after I take her to school," Arizona announced.

"Good, the sooner you get it done the sooner we can call her our daughter," Callie said smiling at the idea.

"Our daughter?" Arizona asked raising an eyebrow.

"Your daughter," she amended.

"No I like our," Arizona said kissing Callie. "Now come here and watch a movie with me."


	4. Chapter 4

"Claire," Seth yelled from across the hallway. A few people turned and looked at him but most ignored him. Seth was a seventeen year old quarterback of the football team and also Claire's best friend, well only friend.

"Hey Seth," Claire said shutting her locker.

Seth grabbed her books so he could walk her to class. They may not be together anymore but he would always love her even if it wasn't the same way she loved him. "Word on the street is you got a ride to school from someone who wasn't your mom."

Claire rolled her eyes. It wasn't the word on the street. Seth saw her this morning getting out of Arizona's car. "Yes I got a ride to school from someone."

He shifted the books and gently touched her arm. He knew everything that happened, Claire getting kicked out of her house, her father beating her and her living on the street. He offered her a place to stay but she only stayed with him for a night. His parents adored her and were sad when they broke up. Seth's father is a lawyer and Claire didn't want her father going to jail so she never told the Hernandez's. Seth was ready to kill Mr. Rivera when he found out the man beat his daughter but Claire stopped him. "Talk to me Claire."

"This woman found me on the street Thursday night. She bought me some food and took me to her apartment and she asked me to stay with her. Friday she took me shopping and we spent the weekend decorating my room."

"Is she hot?" Seth asked wagging his eyebrows. Claire smacked his arm. "I'm just kidding. Is she nice at least?"

"She is very nice and a doctor. Her girlfriend had to relocate my shoulder though," Claire said. She immediately regretted what she said as Seth's hands tightened around the books. "Seth let it go; I don't have to see him anymore."

"I know," he whispered. "I just feel so guilty. I gave you that picture."

"It's not your fault Seth, I hated hiding who I was at least now I don't have to hide."

"Are you happy?" he asked.

"Very happy," she assured him. They walked into their classroom and took their seats at the back of room. "Listen Arizona found my fake ID and took it away and she figured out my birthday and has decided to have a small party. She said I could invite you."

"Of course I'm coming, no way am I missing my best friend's birthday," Seth said. "Sorry about the ID, you want another one?"

"No, Arizona told me not to get another one and I don't want to make her mad," Claire told him.

"I want to take you out for your birthday, not a date just two people who dated going to dinner to celebrate your sixteenth birthday."

"Dinner with the cutest guy at Nathan Hale High, I think I can handle that," Claire teased.

Their conversation was interrupted by the teacher beginning his lecture.

After school Seth caught up with Claire. "I have some news for you," Seth said. Everyday Seth would meet up with Claire after school and they would walk to the boy's locker room. Claire would watch his football practice and he would give her a ride home.

"How can you possibly have news for me?" Claire asked. "I just saw you like two hours ago."

"That is true my hot Latina friend however this particular news happened in English class. You know how I'm partnered with Madison for our project right?" Claire nodded. Madison was the head cheerleader. "Well after Mr. Clark let us work on our projects Madison came to me and she asked me about you."

"Seth I love you but you really have got to spit it out now," Claire said. Seth was big on the drama.

"She asked me if you were gay," he said lowering his voice, Claire's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't say anything but she figured it out. She said the only way you and I could date and break up but still be best friends would be if one of us were gay and she knew I wasn't. Anyway she told me she wanted to ask you out and she wanted my help to do it. I told her I wouldn't help her, if she wanted to ask you out she had to have the balls to do it herself and I told her you would be at my practice."

They stopped outside of the locker room. "You're telling me Madison Davis wants to ask me out?"

Seth knew it would be hard for her to believe. "That is what I'm telling babe."

Claire shook her head. "I don't believe it. I'll see you after practice." Claire turned to leave but Seth grabbed her arm.

"Claire you got the quarterback of the football team to date you, why won't you believe that the head cheerleader wants you?" he asked softly.

"Because dating you isn't a big deal, look I'm not ashamed of who I am but high school is brutal. If my parents can react that badly then I can only imagine how the school will react."

"Hey don't cry," Seth said wiping away the tears. "I understand where you are coming from but do me a favor. If she talks to you, give her a chance even if you don't want to date her."

"Fine," Claire agreed. "You better go, I'll see you outside." He kissed her forehead and followed his teammates into the locker room.

Claire was lounging on the bleachers when she heard footsteps. She turned to see Madison coming towards her in her cheerleading outfit. Madison didn't say anything. She just set her bags down and sat next to Claire. "Hi," Madison said when Claire made no sign of acknowledging her. "Seth told me you would be here."

"I'm always here after school," Claire said. She glanced at the blonde cheerleader before going back to her book.

"I'm assuming Seth told you why I'm here," Madison said.

Claire set her book down. "He mentioned it. I don't get what your angle is though."

"There is no angle Claire. I really like you and I have for a while but you were dating Seth. Please give me a chance, I don't out myself often."

Claire saw Madison was crying. She lifted her arm, winced, and wiped away the tears. "Alright I will go out with you."

Madison smiled. "Thanks, Friday night ok?" she asked. Claire nodded and wrote down her cell phone number for Madison. "What happened to your arm?"

"Nothing, it's my shoulder, its sore."

"Turn," Madison instructed. Claire stared at Madison. "We get hurt cheerleading and coach makes sure we get massages. They help with the pain, now turn around."

Claire did as she instructed and Madison gently touched her sore shoulder. "Let me know if it hurts," Madison said. She brushed Claire's hair out of the way and caught sight of some bruises. She didn't say anything in fear of scaring the girl but made sure to ask Seth about it.

"It feels good," Claire confessed. She leaned into Madison's touch. Madison looked around and saw the football players were too busy to pay attention to them so she pushed Claire's shirt away and leaned forward to kiss the exposed skin.

Claire pulled away in shock but didn't say anything. Madison was going to apologize but someone had walked up to them before she could say anything. "Hello," an attractive older man said.

"Hello," Claire said politely.

"Can we help you?" Madison asked. She didn't trust this guy. She figured he was some pervert that enjoyed watching two girls together.

"Are you Claire?" the man asked looking at Claire.

"Yes I am," Claire confirmed.

"I'm Dr. Mark Sloan; I work with Callie and Arizona. They are both in surgery right now and Callie asked me to pick you up. Arizona said she needed you for something," Mark said.

"Oh, alright let me just grab my things. Madison, can you tell Seth I got a ride?" Claire asked.

"Sure I will tell him for you," Madison said. "Are you going to be ok going with him?"

Claire touched Madison's arm. "I will be fine. I will see you tomorrow."

"Your friend doesn't seem to trust me," Mark commented as he walked her to his car.

"You are a stranger who came up to two teenage girls, I'm not surprised she didn't trust you," Claire said.

"But you came with me willing?" Mark asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know Callie and Arizona, besides I don't think Arizona is a common name. What are the odds you would come up to me and say you know Arizona if you didn't in fact know her?"

"Good point," Mark said laughing. Ten minutes later Mark pulled into the parking lot of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. "You look confused, have you never been here before?"

Claire shook her head. "No I went to Mercy West once a few years ago but I haven't really been sick." They got out of the car and Claire grabbed her bags.

"I will take you to Arizona, she should be out of surgery now," Mark said checking his watch. They walked through the hospital. They got into the elevator and Mark pressed the button for the fourth floor.

They got off and Mark looked for a nurse. "Where is Dr. Robbins?" Mark asked the first nurse he saw.

She pointed towards a patient's room and Claire followed Mark. "Arizona," Mark said from the hallway.

"Mark, Claire," Arizona said smiling. Callie had told Arizona she asked Mark to pick Claire up from school. "Can you take her to the break room? I will be there as soon as I finish up here."

Mark nodded and led the girl to the break room. "I need to get back to work. If you need me let a nurse know and they can page me."

"Hey Claire," Arizona said a few minutes after Mark left. "How was school?"

"It was good," Claire replied.

"What do you think of Mark Sloan?" Arizona asked. She went to the cabinet and looked through it for her paperwork.

"He seems nice," Claire answered.

"I went by the courthouse after I took you to school," Arizona started. She set the paperwork on the table in front of Claire. Claire read the top and saw it was adoption papers. "It's your choice if you want to sign them. We will need to get your parents to sign them as well."

Arizona sat a pen down on the table and waited. Claire glanced at Arizona and then at the papers, Arizona had already signed her name, and grabbed the pen and signed her name. Arizona sighed in relief. She was hoping the girl would say yes. She stepped towards the girl and hugged her. "So the head cheerleader asked me out," Claire blurted out.

"Really?" Arizona asked surprised. Claire nodded. "What did you say?"

"I told her yes," Claire replied.

Arizona was excited. Her new daughter was going to have her first date with a girl. "How old is she?"

"She is seventeen like Seth," Claire said.

"Alright but I want to meet her first," Arizona agreed. "And Callie will want to meet her too."

"Do you mind staying here until I finish up my shift?" Arizona asked. She didn't want to leave her but she still had to do her job.

"I don't mind, I can do my homework," Claire replied. Arizona kissed her forehead and went back to work.


	5. Chapter 5

jcapislove- This is not a Arizona/Lexie fic. It's Calzona and eventual Lexie/Claire. I know there is a big age difference but I plan to portray it in a realistic way, at least that is my intention.

* * *

><p>"Arizona, seriously if you don't stop checking your watch every five seconds I will take it away," Callie said annoyed. Arizona was counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until she had to pick up Claire from school.<p>

Arizona dropped her arm that was halfway to her face; she was getting ready to check the time, again. "I'm so nervous," she said bouncing. She was resisting the urge to get some cigarettes.

"Nuh uh, no smoking," Callie said knowing where the blonde's mind was going. Callie had been working hard to break Arizona of that bad habit.

"Callie this is a big deal, if we can't get her parents to sign the papers," Arizona trailed off. She didn't want to think about it.

Ignoring all the stares from nurses and passing doctors Callie pulled the distraught blonde into her arms. Everyone knew they were together but they didn't know why Arizona was so stressed out. Arizona wiped away the few tears that were falling. "Arizona, they are going to say yes because no one can resist you," Callie said. "And you are going to be the best mother that girl has ever had."

"We," Arizona said.

"What?" Callie asked confused. She pulled away from her girlfriend to look at her face.

"We will be the best mothers for her," Arizona said.

Callie smiled at her. Callie's dream of having a child was finally coming true, granted she wanted a baby but she figured if they could raise a teenager then a baby would be a piece of cake. "Yes we will and I promise you if they say no I will pay for the best lawyer and we will fight for her."

Arizona's phone beeped and she pulled it out before frowning. "What's wrong?" Callie asked. Arizona held out her phone and Callie took it and read the text message before laughing.

"It's not funny Calliope," Arizona said.

"She wants to try out for soccer, it's not the end of the world," Callie said. Callie thought it was cute that Arizona was already an overprotective mother.

"Should I let her?" Arizona asked. Callie handed her back her phone.

"Dr. Robbins," Alex Karev called. Arizona was certain Alex Karev was the future of peds.

"Give me a second Alex," Arizona requested. He nodded and stood and waited.

"Arizona I would let her play, it's a sport and she has never had fun before," Callie said. Arizona agreed and sent a text telling her to try out.

"She said thanks and try outs are Friday, she wants us to be there," Arizona said smiling at her phone. By the time this adoption was over Callie was going to have some grey hairs.

"I'll be there," Callie said. Arizona caught up with Alex.

"What do we have Karev?"

"Eight year old boy brought in after he started vomiting blood," Karev reported.

"Take some blood and send it to the lab then get him to X-ray," Arizona instructed. She glanced at her watch again.

He left and Arizona's best friend Lexie Grey caught up with her. "Arizona do you need help?" Lexie asked. "I need more OR time."

"I need to check on my other patients if you would like to come," Arizona said. Lexie followed the attending surgeon.

"So I heard from Mark you have a teenager living with you," Lexie said.

"Subtle Lex," Arizona said grabbing some charts.

"It's true then?" Lexie asked.

Arizona stopped and turned to look at Lexie. "It's true," she confirmed. "I found her on the street Thursday night and took her in."

"And you are adopting her so soon?" Lexie asked. Arizona gave her a questioning look. "I overheard you and Callie."

Arizona resumed checking on her patients. "Yes I am adopting her so soon. Her parents beat her because of something she had no control over, I couldn't leave her."

"Hey Arizona, I understand," Lexie said noticing the sad look on the doctors face. "I'm sure I wouldn't have left her either."

Arizona and Lexie talked about Mark and Callie in between checking on her patients. After they finished Arizona went to check on Alex. She was walking to her patient's room when she heard Alex's frantic voice. "He's crashing."

Arizona sprinted to the room and burst in to see the distraught parents huddled in the corner and Alex sticking a tube down the young boy's throat. "What happened?" Arizona asked once Alex got the tube down.

"He was fine until he got back to the room. He said he couldn't breathe and started vomiting blood again." Arizona helped stabilize the boy and sent Alex to get the results.

Two hours later Arizona was tired. Her patient was stable and being monitored by Alex and Lexie. She was now on her way to pick up Claire from school.

She parked her car, hopped out and went looking for the girl that would officially be her daughter soon. It didn't take long to find her; she was sitting on a block wall talking to a blonde girl and a Hispanic boy. "Claire," Arizona called.

The girl in question stopped talking and looked up and smiled at Arizona. "Hey Arizona," Claire said.

"Sorry I'm late, had a patient," Arizona said. "Hi."

"Hey," the boy and girl said.

"Oh," Claire said realizing they didn't know each other. "Arizona this is Madison Davis and that is Seth Hernandez. Guys this is Arizona Robbins."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," Seth said offering his hand.

"Please call me Arizona," Arizona said. She turned her attention to the blonde. "Is this the one?"

"Yes," Claire said blushing. Madison raised her eyebrow. "I told Arizona you asked me out."

"Nice to meet you," Madison said shaking Arizona's hand.

"She is pretty," Arizona said causing bother girls to blush and Seth to laugh. "I hate to cut this short but we need to go."

"Right," Claire said hopping off the wall. She hugged them both.

"Don't forget to ask," Seth told her.

Arizona led Claire back to her car. "What are you supposed to ask?"

"Seth wants to take me out to dinner for my birthday. He wanted to know if you would let me go," Claire said.

"Do you want to go?" Arizona questioned as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Well, yeah, but I don't have to go," Claire said.

"Then go," Arizona said smiling. "Are they coming to the party?"

"Yeah Seth is really excited but Madison is a little nervous."

Arizona glanced at the Latina girl before turning her attention back to the road. "Why is she nervous?"

"She is the head cheerleader and she is afraid of people finding out about her," Claire said. She didn't fault the blonde; it was that long ago she felt the same way.

"My friends and co-workers would never say anything," Arizona said. After what happened with Callie and her dad the doctors at Seattle Grace Mercy West knew better than to bring up personal details.

Arizona pulled up on the side of the street in front of a two story house. Claire's shoulder throbbed as if to remind her of what happened the last time she was here. "Are you alright?" Arizona asked. The blonde doctor was afraid Claire was going to have a panic attack.

"I'm fine, I wish Callie was here though," Claire said getting out of the car. Callie could easily scare Claire's parents into submission. Arizona reached into the backseat and pulled out the folder with the adoption papers before getting out of the car and taking Claire's hand.

"Everything will be alright honey," Arizona assured her. "They can't hurt you."

Arizona knocked on the door and they waited. It took five minutes for a Hispanic male to open his front door. His nostrils flared when he saw his teenage daughter. He ignored her and turned his attention to the blonde woman. "What do you want?" he barked. Claire shrunk back in fear.

"Hi, I'm Arizona Robbins," Arizona introduced. Claire couldn't believe she was acting like her normal perky self. "I'm here about your daughter."

"I don't have a daughter," he spat. He started rambling in Spanish causing the teenager to hide behind Arizona.

"Well according to the state of Washington you do," Arizona said. She was losing her patience and was getting angry at the man for scaring Claire. "Look just sign these papers and we will leave."

"¿Qué papeles?"

Arizona turned to Claire confused. "He asked what papers," she whispered to the doctor.

"Oh I have adoption papers, if you sign them, we will leave and you don't have to see us again."

"Why would I sign them?" he sneered. "The puta isn't worth anything." He stepped forward and had his hand raised and ready to strike. Arizona didn't know what he said but knew it was insulting. She stepped in front of the girl.

"I wouldn't try that again," she said in a dangerous voice. Claire found it hard to believe it was the same woman. "I have photographs of the bruises all over her body. You sign these papers and the photos disappear, you don't sign them and I take the photos to the cops. Your choice." Arizona gave him a sweet smile.

He held out his hand for the paper and Arizona hesitated for a moment before handing it to him along with a pen. He quickly signed them and shoved the papers in Arizona's hands. "Now go away and don't come back."

Claire practically ran back to Arizona's car with Arizona not far behind. "Don't tell Seth," Claire begged. If he found out he could get in big trouble.

"What did he call you?" Arizona asked. "I know it's bad but I don't know what puta means."

"Puta means bitch or whore depending on the situation," Claire explained. Arizona resisted the urge to go back.

"It's not true," Arizona said taking the girls hand. "You're a good kid, don't let what he says affect you. Tomorrow I will take the paperwork to the courthouse."

Arizona drove back to her apartment and they spent the evening working on Claire's Anatomy homework. Claire couldn't help but thinking how lucky she was to be adopted by a doctor. At the end of the night she went to sleep proud of the work she did.


	6. Chapter 6

"How do I look?" Claire asked turning to face Madison. She was in the locker room preparing for her soccer tryout. Madison and Seth had stayed at school so they could watch and show their support.

"You look great," Madison said after looking around to make sure no one was there. "Where did you get the shorts?" She was referring to the basketball shorts Claire was wearing that were obviously too big for her.

Claire turned away from Madison to readjust her shirt in the mirror. "I got them from Seth, now I'm regretting it. I have a feeling they are going to fall off."

Madison laughed and spun Claire around. "Relax girl," she said pulling Claire closer to her. She reached into the shorts much to Claire's surprise and pulled the strings tighter before tying a knot. "Better?"

"Yeah," Claire said embarrassed.

"Good luck," Madison said kissing Claire's cheek. She left the locker room to meet up with Seth. Claire headed to the soccer field where she found Coach Sanchez waiting for the potentials.

"Everyone, gather around," Coach barked. She looked at her list and started calling off names. "Rivera, Jones, Black, Johnson, Swartz…" And she went on down the list. "Now we have fifty potentials and only fifteen available spots, six for the junior varsity team and four for the varsity team and five subs."

She paced back and forth eyeing the girls interested in joining her team. "Now here is it how it is going to go, I am going to put you through several tasks and I will evaluate your performance. The top fifteen people will be on the team, the best four on varsity and the next six on JV and so on. Now everyone get to the track now."

Everyone jogged to the track that surrounded the soccer field. "I want two miles done, that's eight laps to those that don't know, in less than twenty minutes. Anyone that can't do it will be cut. Ready, set, go."

Arizona was bouncing in her spot next to Callie. "Why are they running?" Arizona asked. Claire was maintaining a decent speed, ahead of over half the group but she still wasn't going as fast as she could.

"Running is big in soccer," Seth said coming to sit in front of the doctors. Madison was with him and she handed each woman a cup with Coke in it. Seth handed them two hotdogs each. "Coach needs to make sure they can deal with long periods of running. My coach does the same thing and so does Madison's."

"She doesn't seem very fast," Callie observed.

Seth laughed. "She is. She just likes pacing herself." Arizona and Madison stared at him. "When we were dating we ran every morning, anywhere from one to three miles sometimes more."

"Her parents approved of that?" Arizona asked surprised that the super strict parents would allow Claire to do anything.

"Yeah they did, we ran before school so by the time we finished we were both wide awake and we did better in school. Her parents couldn't argue with that," Seth explained. He missed the days when everything was easier.

"How well do you two know each other?" Madison asked. She knew they were close but they seemed closer than she originally thought. Callie and Arizona leaned forward also interested in his reply.

Seth watched the girls run for a minute before answering, "We grew up together, most people don't know that. We are best friends, we tried the dating thing and that obviously didn't work but we did it mainly because our parents wanted us too. I've always liked her but I knew, even before we started dating, she wasn't into me."

One by one the girls finished running and Coach directed them to a table full of juice, Gatorade, water and snacks. She instructed them get something to drink and eat while they waited. Claire was the seventh one done with a time of 11 minutes.

By the end of the running two girls were cut for not finishing in time. "Those that have just finished are welcome to take a few minutes to get hydrated and eat something," Coach Sanchez said.

Coach had everyone stretching in a matter of minutes. "Once you are stretched I want you to get into eight groups of six. We are going to do mini soccer matches," she said.

The doctors, Seth and Madison watched Claire and the other girls scrimmaging. "She is good," Madison said in awe.

"She's Mexican," Seth and Callie said. They looked at each other and started laughing.

"Why does that matter?" Arizona asked.

"Hispanic people are big on soccer," Callie explained. "I grew up playing soccer."

"We should play soccer some weekend," Arizona said. "I can invite Lexie to make the teams even."

"Sounds good," Callie said. "You two in?" She turned to Seth and Madison. She wanted to make Madison more comfortable around them.

"Yeah sounds fun," Madison said smiling. Seth nodded; too busy stuffing hotdogs in his mouth to say anything.

An hour later most of the girls were cut leaving eighteen girls left including Claire. "When I call your name I want you to come over to me," Coach instructed. By this time the girls on the team were there and watching, ready to welcome their teammates.

"Rivera, Sanders, Taylor, Scott," Coach called. Claire and three other girls stepped forward. "Congratulations you four made the varsity soccer team."

The girls already on the team came over and congratulated their new team members and took them off to the side to get sizes for team wear. "Jones, Swartz, Black, Clark, Martinez, Cooper, you made the JV team." The JV players gathered around them.

"Kelly, Peterson, Bryant, Green, Elliott, you guys are the subs. Anyone whose name I didn't call I'm sorry to say you didn't make it," Coach said. Three girls left, one burst into tears as she left.

Coach let the girls talk for a while before she blew her whistle. "Right now I want each and every one of you to report to my office first thing Monday morning. Practices will start Monday after school. I train JV and varsity together. Have a good weekend ladies."

"Rivera," Coach called as Claire started to walk away. She stopped and went back to the coach. "You did well today, have you thought about Cross Country for next year?"

"No Coach," Claire replied. "I like to run but I prefer doing a sport that has more than running in it."

Coach nodded, most people felt that way. "Alright, see you Monday morning."

Claire grabbed a water bottle off the table and headed to the stands where Arizona, Callie, Madison and Seth were waiting. As soon as she made it to the stairs of the bleachers Arizona was out of her seat and tackling the Latina. "Ow, Arizona," Claire said trying not to fall.

"Sorry," Arizona said pulling away. "I'm just so happy for you. You did a great job."

Madison walked over to Claire and Arizona holding a black sports bag with a red bow on it. "Congrats," she said handing the bag to Claire. "What every sports star needs."

"Thanks Madison," Claire said hugging her date for the evening.

"Girl I love you but we need to get you home so you can shower," Callie said walking over to them. Seth laughed and hugged Claire.

Madison checked her watch. "I have to go but I'll pick you up at 7pm." She kissed Claire's cheek and left.

"Aw," Arizona said while Seth and Callie made kissing noises.

"Real mature guys," Claire said blushing.

Arizona laughed. "Come on chica let's get you home so you can get ready for your date."

"That's my cue to go," Seth said grabbing his bags. "I don't want to be stuck helping pick out outfits." Seth kissed her forehead and left.

Callie took Claire's backpack and they headed to her car. "How is your patient Arizona?" Claire asked.

"He's doing well now," Arizona answered. "He had a tumor in his stomach that I was able to remove. He is recovering now and should be able to go home soon."

The rest of the car ride was quiet. When they got to Arizona's apartment Callie and Arizona followed Claire to her bedroom. "Do you guys know where I'm going?" Claire asked. Callie and Arizona sat on Claire's bed as she went to her closet.

"Yes," they both said.

"Can you tell me?"

"No," they both said. Claire looked at them and frowned. "We can still help you figure out what to wear," Callie added. "Go for casual."

"Calliope that's not very helpful," Arizona said climbing off the bed. "Claire go get in the shower, I'll pull out some clothes for you to look at."

Claire rushed out of her room to shower while Arizona went digging through her closet. "I didn't realize how much clothing we bought for her," Arizona commented searching through jeans.

Callie laughed. "That was all you love. I told you, you were going overboard."

"Oh yeah," Arizona said. "What about this?" Arizona was holding up a pair of black jeans and a red halter top."

"That's good," Callie said looking up from a magazine she found on Claire's nightstand.

Arizona was putting away some clothing when Claire came into her room wearing nothing but a towel. "I forgot undergarments," she said sheepishly.

The older women took that as their cue to leave while Claire got dressed. Claire dressed quickly but had issues with her top. "Arizona," she called. The blonde doctor walked inside her room. "Can you tie the shirt?"

Arizona silently tied the halter top. Once finished Claire turned around, "How do I look?"

"You look beautiful," Arizona said touching her face. "What are you going to do for your hair?"

"I was planning on leaving it," Claire said.

"Do you want help with your make-up?" Arizona questioned.

"No I'm good," Claire said smiling at Arizona.

At exactly 7pm there was a knock on the door. Callie got off the couch to answer it. She pulled the apartment door open and saw Madison standing in front of her wearing jeans and a tank top. "Hello Madison," Callie greeted.

Callie stepped aside and the blonde walked in. "Is Claire ready?" Madison asked.

"I'll go check on her," Callie said. Before she got to Claire's room the young girl walked out with Arizona behind her.

"Wow," Madison said looking at Claire. Claire blushed.

"Hey Madison, you may want to close your mouth, you are going to let the flies in," Callie stage whispered. Madison closed her mouth in embarrassment.

"Are you ready to go?" Madison asked. Claire nodded and kissed Callie and Arizona's cheek before taking Madison's offered hand.

"Curfew is at midnight," Arizona told the girls.

Madison held Claire's hand all the way to the car. She pulled the door open it and shut it behind the Latina before getting into the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?" Claire asked.

"It's a surprise," Madison said taking Claire's hand. "Where did Seth take you when you guys were dating?"

"His room most of the time," Claire said. Madison stared at Claire with her mouth open. "Oh god not like that, we played Xbox."

Madison sighed in relief. "So you and Seth never…"

"No," Claire answered. "He is a good guy, he never pressured me. I know he wanted to but he was nice about it."

"Good," Madison said. A few minutes later she pulled into a parking lot.

"Gameworks?" Claire asked excited.

Madison got nervous. "Yeah I thought it might be fun."

"It's great," Claire told her truthfully. "Come on, I'm gonna kick your butt at Dance Dance Revolution."

Madison laughed. "You wish Rivera," she said getting out of the car.

"Pick a song," Madison said when they got to the dancing game. Claire scrolled through and found one she thought would be fun.

"What do you think about Lady Gaga?" Claire asked.

"Love her," Madison said. "Hit it."

Claire and Madison danced to Telephone, both messed up a few times and were laughing uncontrollably.

At 11:55pm Claire and Madison were standing outside Arizona's apartment. "I had fun tonight," Claire said. "I'm glad I agreed to go out with you."

Madison smiled. "I had fun too and I am so happy you said yes." Madison stared at Claire before leaning forward and pressing her lips to Claire's.

Claire responded immediately and wrapped her arms around Madison's neck. The door opened a few seconds later. "You were right Arizona," Callie said smirking. "Hello girls."

Madison and Claire jumped apart, both were blushing furiously. "Goodnight Claire," Madison said.

"Goodnight," Claire said. When Madison left Claire turned at glared at Callie. "You embarrassed her."

"And you cost me $20," Callie said. Claire turned to Arizona.

"Callie didn't believe me when I said you would be outside the door kissing your girlfriend," Arizona said. "Pay up Calliope." Arizona held her hand out.

"Why don't I take you lovely ladies out for breakfast instead," Callie suggested. Claire went to her room to get ready for bed while the older women argued over breakfast.

* * *

><p>Next up: Lexie and Claire meet, Seth gives Madison 'the talk' and the birthday party<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

It was a busy morning in the Robbins household. Claire and Arizona were cleaning the apartment in preparation for Claire's birthday party in a few short hours. "Claire, can you vacuum for me?" Arizona asked from the kitchen. She was busy preparing snacks for the guests. They were planning on ordering pizza later. Callie practically begged Claire to allow her to order pizza for the party.

"Sure," Claire said going to get the vacuum out of the closet. Claire quickly vacuumed the apartment including both bedrooms.

"Where is Callie?" Claire asked coming into the kitchen after she finished.

"I don't know," Arizona confessed. She was so busy cooking she hadn't thought about it. Her phone buzzed at that moment. "Can you check that?"

Claire went to the living room and opened Arizona's phone. She saw a text message from Callie. "Callie said she is on her way," Claire read. Arizona's buzzed again. Claire read the message. "Someone named Lexie wants to know if she can come over now."

"Tell her yes," Arizona said. Claire quickly typed the message and sent it.

"Arizona," Claire said coming back to the kitchen. She started washing dishes to help the doctor out. "I was wondering, well you and Callie have been great but I was hoping I could get a job, at the hospital. You guys have done a lot for me but I wanted to make my own money so I can buy art supplies and save money for college."

Arizona stopped cooking. "Don't worry about college, Callie and I have it covered but the Chief was hoping to hire some orderlies to help doctors and nurses. He will be here today. We can talk to him if you would like," Arizona said.

"That would be great," Claire said. She dried her hands so she could hug Arizona.

There was a knock at the door. "Why don't you go get your IPod while I answer the door," Arizona suggested.

Arizona watched the girl leave before she went to open the front door. She expected to see Callie but instead saw Lexie. "Hey," Lexie said smiling at her best friend. She was holding a neatly wrapped present in her hands.

"Hey Lex, come on in," Arizona said. "You didn't have to buy her anything."

Lexie laughed and walked inside. "I couldn't not buy mini Robbins a present. Where should I put it?"

"Fireplace is good," Arizona said.

"Where is the birthday girl?" Lexie asked setting the present down.

"In her room trying to find her IPod." Arizona answered from the kitchen.

A few minutes later Claire came into the living room with her IPod in hand. "Found it," she said happily.

Arizona glanced up. "Have you thought about cleaning your room? It might help in the future," she teased.

"Then I wouldn't be a real teenager," Claire laughed. Claire heard laughter behind her and spun around to see an older woman looking at her. She wasn't as old as Arizona but still older than herself. Claire figured she was a doctor.

"Claire, Lexie Grey. Lexie, Claire Rivera," Arizona introduced.

"Happy Birthday Claire," Lexie said shaking her hand.

"Thank you," Claire said quickly releasing Lexie's hand.

"Lex, do you mind getting some card tables out of the closet?" Arizona asked going back to her work in the kitchen.

Lexie went straight to the closet. Claire followed her and grabbed the chairs. "How's your shoulder?" Lexie asked.

"Much better," Claire answered uncomfortable. She wasn't aware Arizona, or Callie had told her about it. "It healed a while ago. Are you a doctor?"

"Yes," Lexie answered. Claire wanted to pat herself on the back for her ability to change the subject. "Well I am an intern right now."

"How does that work?" Claire asked. She was interested in what it took to be a doctor.

"After you graduate from medical school you find a hospital, somewhere you want to work at, and you become an intern for two years. There's a test you have to take and when you pass you become a resident. That lasts for five years. After that you apply to be an attending in whatever field you specialized in."

"What are you specializing in?" Claire asked. This was fascinating to her.

"I don't have a specialty yet," Lexie said. They took the tables and chairs to the living room. "I'm only a second year intern but I'm thinking about Neurology, possibly general surgery. Are you interested in being a doctor?"

Claire thought about it a minute as she opened the chairs. She looked up and saw Arizona staring at her. "I haven't thought about it. My father always said I was supposed to be a lawyer but I never wanted that. I hate lawyers. I've always wanted to help people."

"Being a doctor is a good way to help people," Lexie said looking up from the table. She smiled at the nervous Latina. "So I heard the good news, Arizona officially adopted you."

Claire laughed when she looked up and saw Arizona blushing. "Yeah, it would have been official sooner but Arizona forgot to get my mother's signature. She took the paperwork to the courthouse and they told her she was missing that. Arizona ended up calling me asking where my mother worked."

Lexie laughed at how embarrassed Arizona looked. "In my defense that man was very scary and I wouldn't have wanted to ask him to speak to his wife."

"I agree," Claire said.

"Hello," Callie yelled from the doorway, effectively ending Lexie and Claire's conversation.

Arizona, Lexie and Claire jumped at the sound of Callie's voice. "Calliope," Arizona scolded. Arizona had spilled flour everywhere.

"Sorry," Callie standing behind Arizona. Arizona jumped again and Claire and Lexie laughed. Callie noticed the present Lexie had brought and moved to place her own neatly wrapped present with the other one.

Arizona washed her hands and went over to Callie and started whispering to her much to Lexie and Claire's confusion. "I think they are conspiring against you," Lexie whispered.

"I think so too," Claire agreed.

There was another knock and the door and Claire excused herself to go answer it. Standing on the other side of the front door was Seth and Madison with Mark Sloan. "Hey," Mark said smiling. "I met up with these two outside."

Claire pulled Seth and Madison inside. "Hey guys," she said hugging her girlfriend.

"Happy Birthday," Madison said.

Claire was introducing Madison and Seth to Lexie when more people arrived. "My parents were sorry they couldn't come," Seth said as Callie answered the door. "They had to meet with a client."

Madison and Seth sat the presents they brought on the fireplace next to the others. "Claire," Callie called waving the Latina over. Seth and Madison followed the girl.

"Claire this is Owen Hunt and his wife Cristina Yang and Cristina's best friend Meredith Grey and her husband Derek Shepard," Callie introduced. Claire thought Meredith's name sounded familiar. "Guys this is Arizona's daughter Claire Rivera, Claire's best friend Seth Hernandez and Claire's girlfriend Madison Davis."

"Little Robbins," Meredith said shaking her hand, as soon as Meredith said that Claire figured out why her name was so familiar.

"Are you related to Lexie?" Claire asked.

Meredith laughed. "Lexie is my half-sister," she said.

"Are you all doctors?" Claire asked.

They stepped inside and away from the front door. "Yes," Derek answered. "Meredith and Cristina are third year residents. I am head of Neurology and Owen is head of Trauma."

Callie saw how fascinated Claire was and laughed. "You have plenty of him to bug them honey," Callie aid hugging the Latina.

Claire blushed in embarrassment. "If you would like more information or are interested in being a doctor we would be happy to talk to you," Owen said nudging Cristina. Cristina made a face but nodded.

The adults excused themselves to go greet the others. "You know you are cute when you blush," Madison whispered in Claire's ear. Claire blushed even more.

"Would you ladies like a drink?" Seth asked eyeing the sodas Arizona set out. He only drank soda on the weekends in an effort to remain fit.

"Sure," they both said.

Seth left as there was another knock on the door. Claire opened the door and found four more people standing in front of her. There was an older African American man and woman, Claire assumed they were married since they were holding hands and both were wearing wedding rings.

There was another older African American woman. She was easily the shortest person in the apartment but Claire could tell she wasn't a person to mess with.

The last person was a man, with short dark hair, he looked to be the same age and Meredith and Cristina. "Hello," the older man said.

"Hi," Claire said. "Come on in."

"You must be Claire," the man said. Claire nodded. "I'm Richard Webber and this is my wife Adele."

Claire shook their hands and they went searching for Arizona. "Miranda Bailey," the other woman said. "And this there is Alex Karev. Arizona's star resident."

Bailey and Alex followed Claire to the kitchen where Arizona did some quick introductions for Seth and Madison. "Claire," Arizona called a few minutes later. Claire excused herself and made her way across the room to where Richard and Arizona were standing.

"Claire, this is Chief Webber," Arizona said. Claire gulped. She didn't realize he was the Chief; otherwise she would have made an effort to talk to him.

"We met," Richard said smiling. "Arizona says you want to be an orderly."

"Yes sir," Claire said. Arizona frowned. She was going to have to speak to Claire about the sir and ma'am business. She had a feeling it was a nervous habit since the Latina had called both her and Callie ma'am at some point.

"You don't have to call me sir," Richard said kindly. "Especially not in your own home."

"Sorry sir, um Mr. Webber, uh Chief," Claire said. She wasn't sure what to call him. Arizona put her arm around Claire to help calm her down.

"Do you have any skills that could come in handy at a hospital?" Chief Webbed asked. He was going to give the girl the job but he at least wanted to pretend he was interviewing her.

"I am CPR certified," Claire said. Both doctors looked impressed. "Seth's mom made us both get certified."

"Be at the hospital at 4pm on Monday," Richard instructed. "We can get your ID sorted out as well as your duties. Make sure you are wearing scrubs." Claire looked at Arizona for help and the blonde doctor assured her everything would be fine.

"Thank you sir," Claire said shaking his hand. "I mean Chief."

"Arizona where is Teddy?" Mark asked looking around the room. She was the only one not here yet.

"No idea," Arizona replied. "She should be here any minute."

As if on cue there was a knock at the door. Madison opened it and saw a woman with long dark blonde hair. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "There was shopping and wrapping and traffic. Hi."

"Hi," Madison said. She was wondering who the woman was.

"Are you Claire?" Teddy asked still standing outside of the apartment.

"No, I'm Madison. Claire's girlfriend," Madison said.

"Teddy," Arizona called excited.

"Hey Arizona," Teddy said stepping inside. She hugged her friend and handed the present to her. "I'm not sure what you are doing with these."

"I'll take it," Madison said. She took the gift and placed them with the others.

Claire made her way to Arizona and the new guest. "Teddy this is my daughter Claire. Claire this is my friend and cardiothoracic surgeon Teddy Altman."

"Nice to meet you," Teddy said offering her hand. "And Happy Birthday."

Callie went around the room trying to figure out what kind of pizza to order. Once she got several, well five, different types she excused herself to go order them.

Owen found Claire talking to Meredith and Bailey about being a doctor. "Have you thought about it?" Meredith asked after telling her about medical school.

Owen sat down next to Claire on the couch and listened. "I hadn't until recently but it seems like it would be interesting and Lexie is right it would be a good way to help people."

"What grade are you in?" Bailey asked.

"Tenth," Claire replied.

"What classes are you taking?" Owen questioned.

Claire looked up at Owen before answering, "Honors English, Chemistry, Algebra 2, AP History, Spanish 2 and Anatomy."

"Wow that is a heavy load," Meredith said impressed. "How are you doing those classes?"

"My parents made me take them. I'm doing pretty well. I have a 4.0 but I only enjoy my science classes."

"Next year I would kick back some," Owen suggested. "Take AP or Honors science classes, if you can and if you like it, maybe AP English and do regular history. Take a class you will enjoy. If you keep your 4.0 and you want to be a doctor they will see this and you will have a good chance for medical school. Of course you will need your bachelor's degree too and your new job will help."

"The Chief told us," Bailey explained when she saw the confused look. "He is very excited to get a new orderly. If you do a good job the doctors will love you and it will make recommendations for college very easy."

"And if you need, or want, help with homework just ask us," Meredith added. "But don't ask Cristina."

Arizona pulled up a chair and joined the conversation. "Tell them about your extra-curricular activity," she said.

"Well I'm now on the varsity soccer team," Claire announced.

"And she is freaken awesome," Seth said coming to sit by Claire.

"That's great," Owen said. He loved soccer. "Sports are a good way to get scholarships. Do you play any other sports?"

"Softball," Claire answered. "I want to try out for the team in the spring, if I can."

"If you can go this season without getting hurt then I don't mind," Arizona said.

Forty-five minutes later the delivery boy showed up with over a dozen boxes of pizza. Callie, with the help of Richard, Derek and Owen, carried the boxes inside and set them on the counter. "Come eat people, we have tons of pizza," Callie yelled. Seth hopped up and rushed to the counter.

After everyone finished eating they separated and started up their conversations. Claire was sitting on Madison's lap talking to Adele. "Madison," Seth called. Claire got off Madison's lap so Madison could get up. The blonde got up and walked over to Seth while Claire sat back down in the chair.

"What's up Seth?" she asked.

Seth didn't answer. Instead he led her to Claire's bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Seth," she said nervous.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to scare you. I wanted to talk to you in private," he said. "Look, Claire is my best friend and I don't want her to get hurt."

"Seth," Madison cutting him off. "I'm not going to hurt her. I love her and I've loved her for a while. I didn't think I had a chance but now that I do, I'm not going to ruin it."

"Good," Seth said. "Now let's go before your girlfriend comes looking for you."

They left the room and found Arizona pulling Claire to the front of the room. Come open your presents," Arizona said excited.

Claire mumbled some things in Spanish about not expecting presents and Callie hugged her. "They care about you mija, even if they don't know you," Callie whispered.

Claire sat at the front of the room. Her face was red in embarrassment. "Your face matches your hair," Lexie joked. Everyone laughed causing Claire to blush even more.

Arizona handed the girl an present. She opened the card and quickly read it. "Who is it from?" Callie asked.

"Seth," Claire answered. She ripped the paper off and gasped when she lifted the lid. "Oh my god," she squealed. She pulled out a Mariner's jersey.

She hugged her best friend. "Thanks Seth," she said throwing on the jersey.

He pulled another card out of his back pocket. "This is from my parents," he said.

She opened it and her eyes grew wide. "Seriously?" she asked.

"What is it?" Arizona asked.

"They are buying me a season pass to all the Mariner home games," Claire said.

"Wow," Callie said. "That's awesome."

"My mom loves the games and Claire and I usually go with her. My dad goes for my mom," Seth explained.

"Sit down girl," Arizona said. Claire sat down and Arizona handed her another package.

_Claire,_

_Happy Birthday, Mija. I hope this is your best birthday and you have fun. You deserve to have fun. I love you._

_Love, Callie_

"It's from Callie," Claire read.

She unwrapped the box. "Wow, Callie this is amazing," she said. She held up the digital camera box.

"Callie," Arizona surprised. "It's nice but not necessary."

"I know you love to draw," Callie said ignoring Arizona. "So I thought you could take pictures of things you may want to draw later."

Claire got up and hugged Callie.

The rest of her presents were various art supplies since Arizona and Callie told everyone she liked art. Arizona's gift however was surprising. Claire read the card with a smile on her face. When she opened the box she was confused.

She pulled out a booklet from the DMV. Arizona laughed when she saw the confused look. "You are 16 now. I thought you might like to get your driver's license. I enrolled you into the driver's education course."

Claire launched herself into Arizona's surprised arms. "Thanks," she said.

"Anytime dear," Arizona said wrapping her arms around the girl.

One by one the adults started leaving until there were only a few people left. "So how was your birthday babe?" Madison asked.

"It was great," Claire said touching the bracelet Madison had given her. "I love the bracelet by the way." Madison smiled. The bracelet Madison had given her had Madison's birthstone on it. The cheerleader was wearing a matching one with Claire's birthstone on it.

"Looks like Seth is ready to go," Madison said. She kissed her girlfriend and said goodnight.

Claire gave Seth a long hug that had Madison glaring at the boy. "Happy Birthday Claire," he said. "Dinner tomorrow night."

After they left Claire helped Arizona and Callie clean up some before she climbed into bed. It had been a long day but very fun.

She was very happy she made a new friend and couldn't wait to see Lexie Grey again.


	8. Chapter 8

Madison was waiting for Claire outside the locker room after soccer practice. Madison had offered to drive Claire to the hospital for her first day of work. Madison checked her watch again. If Claire didn't hurry up she was going to be late. "Yo," Seth called. Madison turned around to find Seth dressed in blue jeans and his football jersey. His black hair was wet from the shower he had after his practice. "Is she still in there?"

"No," Madison said sarcastically. "I like standing outside the girl's locker room."

"I bet you do," Seth smirked and Madison smacked him. "Sorry. Why aren't you in there with her?"

"We are in a hurry," Madison answered, blushing slightly. "If I go in there then we will get distracted." Seth started laughing.

Claire walked out of the locker room a minute later, dressed in Arizona's scrubs. She was borrowing Arizona's until she could get her own. Her wet hair hung freely. Claire hugged Seth. "Seth, can you ask your sister to do my hair again soon, when she is not busy?" Claire asked. "My hair is growing again and I could use a haircut too."

"Yeah sure I will ask her," Seth said. Her hugged her and said goodbye before heading to meet with his friends.

"I like your hair," Madison said, playing with it. "Are you nervous?" Madison asked when they got into her car.

"Yeah," Claire said, fumbling with her seatbelt.

"Relax," Madison instructed, pulling out of the parking lot. "You're going to do great. They already like you. Do you know what you will be doing?"

"Not yet," Claire replied. "Arizona said it was going to be a surprise but she hinted that I wouldn't be working with her for a while."

"That's good," Madison said. "I wouldn't want to work for Arizona." Claire raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend, slightly hurt since she thought Madison liked her mother. "Oh that's not what I meant. I meant Arizona works with sick kids. I wouldn't want to do that. It would be too sad for me."

Claire relaxed. "That's true," Claire admitted. "I may avoid Arizona as much as possible."

Madison pulled in front of Seattle Grace- Mercy West Hospital. "I'll see you tomorrow," Madison said. "Text me if you want me to bring you some food or company."

Claire kissed her girlfriend and climbed out of the car. Claire got inside the hospital and realized she had no idea where she was supposed to go. "Excuse me," Claire said stopping a brunette doctor. The doctor spun around and Claire recognized her. "Lexie, hey."

"Hey Claire," Lexie said smiling. "Why are you walking towards the ER? I thought you had a meeting with the Chief and Arizona."

"I did," Claire said. "I mean I do. I just realized I have no idea where the Chief's office is, or where anything is for that matter."

"Oh, well I can take you there," Lexie said. "Are you excited about your first day?"

"I am," Claire admitted. "Also nervous since I don't know what I will be doing."

Lexie led Claire to the elevator. "I can promise you, you will enjoy what are you going to do and we will be seeing each other a lot more."

"That doesn't bother me," Claire said. "I enjoy your company."

Lexie blushed and led her down the hallway. "This is the Chief's office," Lexie said. "Do you have a cellphone?" Claire nodded and pulled her phone out. Lexie took it out of her hand and after a couple minutes handed it back. "There now you have my phone number. If you ever get lost or need help with something you can text or call me."

Claire sighed in relief. "Thank you," Claire said, no longer fearing work.

Lexie got a page and had to rush off leaving Claire alone outside her new boss' office. She knocked on the door and waited for a response. "Come in," Chief Webber called. Claire walked in to find Dr. Hunt, Arizona and Chief Webber sitting down as if they were waiting for her. "Ms. Rivera, glad you could make it."

"Sorry I'm late. I got here and realized I had no idea where I was going, luckily I ran into Lexie," Claire said quickly. Arizona chuckled.

"I am sorry about that," Chief Webber said. "We should have made sure you knew where to go. Have a seat."

Claire took a seat next to Arizona. "Now first things first," he continued. He handed her a tag with a clip, to be attached to her scrubs. "When we finish here Arizona will take you to Human Resources where you will get your ID. You must wear it at all times as you will need it to gain access to different areas of the hospital. What you are holding has a list of hospital codes so you are aware of the different circumstances. There is also a list of codes to different rooms. Once you have your ID you will need to wear a white lab coat at all times. Your boss will instruct you on proper safety measures and equipment. For now I would like to formally welcome you to the Seattle Grace- Mercy West family," Chief Webber finished. "Do you have any questions?"

Claire shook his hand and thanked him. "You said my boss will instruct me," Claire said. Richard nodded. "Who is my boss?"

"I am," Owen Hunt said, standing up. "You will be assisting me in the ER as well as in the trauma rooms. Technically you will report to Lexie Grey but I will be your boss. There are some cases that I may allow you to do on your own, with supervision of course, to give you some first-hand experience. Those cases will be rather simple and it would be up to the patient to allow you to do anything. I may even teach you to do stitches."

"Thank you Dr. Hunt," Claire said shaking his hand.

"You are welcome to call me Owen when we are not with patients," he said smiling at her.

"I have to go check on a patient soon," Arizona said standing up. "We need to get your ID now."

"Come down to the ER when you are ready," Owen said.

Claire blushed. "I don't know where the ER is," she admitted.

"Oh," he said. "Well it's on the first floor. You exit the elevator and go straight down the hall and then take a left."

Arizona escorted Claire to the second floor where Human Resources was located. "Are you excited?" Arizona asked.

"I am," Claire said. "I never expect Dr. Hunt to teach me."

"Claire, why do you act formal around people you don't know? I noticed at your birthday party and again just now," Arizona said.

"My parents taught me to always show respect to my elders and superiors. It is weird for me to think of myself as an equal, especially to doctors," Claire explained. Arizona frowned. She didn't like the way the Rivera's had raised Claire.

"They are _not_ your superiors," Arizona said firmly. Claire thought it sounded strange coming from the normally bubbly doctor. "We may be doctors but that doesn't automatically make us better than you. Did you know Owen requested you?"

"No," Claire said shocked.

"He was impressed by your interest in medicine and asked Chief Webber if you could work for him, if he could train you, prepare you for the future in case you do decide to become a doctor," Arizona elaborated.

Arizona pushed the door to Human Resources open. "Wait here," Arizona said going to find the person in charge.

Claire stood there waiting for Arizona to return. Thankfully it only took a few minutes. "Hello dear," the woman said. "I am Rebecca Long. I need to take a photograph of you and then your ID will be printed up in a matter of minutes."

Arizona's pager went off as Rebecca got Claire ready for the picture, smoothing her hair down. "Sorry honey," Arizona said, checking her pager. "I have to get to my patient now."

"Smile," Rebecca instructed, as Arizona left the room. Claire smiled and the photo was taken. "Now we have to wait a few minutes are you are ready to go. Do you have any questions while you wait?"

"Do you like your job?" Claire questioned.

Rebecca smiled at her. She was friends with Arizona and Arizona had told her about Claire's interest in medicine. "I love my job," Rebecca answered. "Chief Webber is very kind as are all the doctors here." The machine beeped and Rebecca pulled out Claire's new ID. "Here you go. Do you know how to get to the ER?" Claire nodded and thanked the woman before leaving.

Lexie was waiting for Claire when she got to the ER. Draped across her arm was a white lab coat. "Hey," Lexie said smiling. She handed her the coat and Claire quickly put it on and buttoned it up. "You look good." Claire blushed. "Dr. Hunt is waiting for you."

Claire was led into the ER by Lexie. They found Owen checking on a patient, thankfully there was nothing major going on at the moment. He looked up at the sound of the two women and excused himself. "Ms. Rivera, welcome to the ER. I will give you a brief tour so you know where everything is before we go over your duties."

Owen showed Claire where everything was while Lexie checked over the patients. "Are you ready for your first assignment?" Owen asked after the tour.

"Yes," Claire said eagerly.

"Good, come with me," Owen said. "Lexie I need you with me."

Lexie followed Owen and Claire to a bed. "Mr. Johnson and Ms. Rogers decided to super glue themselves together," Owen started to explain. "You will be allowed to treat these patients on your own but Lexie I want you to keep an eye on her and help her." Lexie nodded.

Owen turned and left before Claire could register what happened. As soon as she realized he was gone she started panicking. "Relax Claire," Lexie said, taking her hand. "You can do this and I will be right here to help you."

"How do you undo super glue?" Claire asked, still holding Lexie's hand.

"I have no idea," Lexie said. "Why don't you find Arizona and ask her. I think she has experience with treating super glue since she works with kids. I have to cover the preliminary tests for the patients anyway so they should be ready by the time you get back."

"Alright," Claire said. "Where is Arizona?"

"Fourth floor," Lexie said. "Turn left when you get out of the elevator. A nurse should be able to tell you exactly where she is."

Claire nodded and headed back to the elevator, wondering why teenagers would superglue themselves to each other. She got off on the fourth floor and wandered down the hall looking for a nurse. Finally she found one. "Hi," Claire said, walking up to her. "Do you know where I can find Dr. Robbins?"

The nurse looked up. "She is in room 5B, with a patient," the nurse replied with a smile.

Claire thanked her and walked to the room. She stood outside the room not wanting to disturb the doctor while she talked to some parents. "Claire," Arizona said smiling when she came out of the room. "What brings you to Peds?"

"Dr. Hunt gave me a patient," Claire said biting her lip.

"Already?" Arizona asked surprised. Claire nodded. "Why are you here and not with your patient?"

"Well they kind of super glued themselves together," Claire said, wondering why someone would do that. "Lexie said you may know how to get them apart."

"Acetone," Arizona replied. "Can you go down to room 12A and let the parents know I will be right there? I will get you some acetone." Claire nodded and went looking for the room.

"Hello," a young woman, about 25, with dark circles under her eyes said. In the bed was a young boy, about 6, fast asleep. "You are not Dr. Robbins."

"No I'm not," Claire agreed. "Dr. Robbins asked me to tell you she will be here momentarily. She had to attend to something real quick."

"Thank you," the woman said.

"I'm Claire," Claire said offering her hand to the woman.

"Abby," Abby replied shaking Claire's hand. "You look too young to be a doctor."

"That's because I am," Claire said. "I am an orderly. Dr. Robbins is helping me with something. Is he ok?" Claire pointed to Abby's son.

"I don't know," Abby sighed. "Dr. Robbins is doing everything she can for him but I don't know if it will be enough. He's so lonely here, no friends. I think he misses home."

"What does he like?" Claire asked. Abby looked at her confused. "I mean what's his favorite toy or show or something?"

"He loves Transformers," Abby answered. "Why?"

"I have an idea," Claire said. "Do you mind if I come back and visit him?"

"No of course not," Abby said. Claire opened her mouth, prepared to ask his name when Abby beat her to it. "His name's Alexander."

"Claire, Abby," Arizona said before Claire could say anything more. "Here," Arizona handed Claire a bottle of nail polish remover. "Use this to get the super glue off."

Claire thanked Arizona and said goodbye to her and Abby before heading back down to the ER. "Did you get what we need?" Lexie asked when Claire got back to the ER. Claire held up the bottle of nail polish remover. "Acetone, of course, that will do it. I talked to the parents and they are happy to let you do this. It seems Mr. Johnson wants his son to become a doctor and is happy to help someone that wants to get a respectable job." Claire raised an eyebrow. "His words, not mine."

Lexie handed Claire some gloves and Q-tips so she could work. "Dr. Hunt has instructed me to help you learn procedure, not only for you but for doctors as well. Rule one is always wear gloves when dealing with patients. Some cases may require you to double glove but I'll explain that later."

"Alright," Claire said putting the gloves on.

"It's always a good idea to check the patient's charts before doing anything to him. For you we need to get permission first. As you already have permission here," Lexie handed Claire the chart and stepped closer to the Latina. Lexie quickly explained how to read a chart and what to look for before dealing with a patient. The most important thing to check for was allergies. Another important thing was whether or not the patient had a disease that could be transmitted to the doctor.

"No illnesses," Claire commented so Lexie knew she understood what to look for. "And no allergies."

"Very good," Lexie smiled. "But that's for him. You need to check her now. Her mother gave you permission to look." Claire checked it over and only found an allergy for peanuts. "Don't worry about that, nail polish remover doesn't contain peanuts."

Claire stayed silent as she dabbed the nail polish remover onto the arms that were glued together. After what seemed like hours the two teenagers were no longer super glued together. Lexie did a quick check to make sure there was nothing wrong before she got the paperwork ready to discharge them. "You did well," Lexie praised.

"Thanks," Claire said smiling at the older woman. "You know that was fun. It's nothing something that most would think as exciting but I liked it."

"You would be a good trauma doctor," Owen said coming up behind her. He heard the tail end of their conversation. "We have a lot of repetition, and it sounds like you would enjoy that."

A couple hours later Arizona drove a very tired Claire home. Claire had spent the rest of the day following Lexie and helping her. Most patients were fine with Claire reading their charts and the brunette was starting to learn what to look for and how to read other information. Lexie would have her guess which department the patient would need to go to and she got two out of ten right.

"Tired?" Arizona asked. Claire looked like she was going to pass out at any moment.

"Exhausted," Claire replied. "Is work like that every day?"

Arizona chuckled. "Not every day," Arizona assured her. "The first day is always the worst. The first day is when you get overloaded with new information. I promise it won't be as bad."

Claire yawned. "What time is it?"

"A little after nine," Arizona said checking the clock.

"Crap, I promised I would call Madison," Claire said trying to find her phone.

"Honey," Arizona said, her right hand reaching across the car to stop Claire. "You are exhausted. I think Madison will forgive you if you don't call her tonight. Call her in the morning."

Claire yawned again and was fast asleep before she could say anything.


	9. Chapter 9

azrael8919- Yes this is still Lexie/Claire but for now they are only friends as Claire is with Madison. Mark Sloan is around and you will see him again next chapter.

tansikat- Madison is not going to get hurt, well she will but Claire will not cheat on her with Lexie. I already have the break up planned out.

* * *

><p>"What the hell were you thinking Seth?" Claire yelled, slamming the front door behind her and in Seth's face. Seth opened the door and walked inside.<p>

Seth seemed completely unaffected by the angry Latina. He had grown up with Claire. He knew how to handle her moods. Besides she wasn't throwing things at him which meant she wasn't as angry as she acted. "I don't know what the big deal is," he said calmly. Arizona heard her adoptive daughter yelling and came to investigate.

Claire heard Arizona and turned to her. "Tell her what you did," Claire yelled pointing at Arizona. Arizona was starting to worry that Seth did something really bad as she had never seen Claire so upset before.

Seth opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. "He signed us up for the talent show," Claire yelled in response to her own question.

"The talent show," Arizona repeated, not sure how she was supposed to respond to this. Her first instinct was to laugh. It was obvious Claire was upset but it didn't seem like that big of a deal to her.

"Yes the talent show," Claire yelled. Arizona gave her a look and Claire apologized for yelling at her. "We have to sing and dance in Spanish."

"English too," Seth mumbled and Claire turned and glared at him.

"That's not the point," Claire yelled again.

"Whoa what is going on here?" Callie asked walking into the apartment. She looked at Arizona. "One of your neighbors was complaining about the yelling. Apparently some Mexican girl was yelling at a guy but I can see who that was now. Now mija what's wrong?"

"Seth signed us up for the talent show," Claire said softly instantly regretting her outburst though she was still angry. Callie was a lot like her mother in a way, though nicer, and Claire hated to let her down.

"I did it for you," Seth said before Callie could say anything. "All the sports teams have to participate in stuff like this, shows school spirit or something like that. Coach was going to tell you Monday. I signed us up together so you weren't alone." Claire kept away from school related activities, except when she dated Seth for those few months, so she wasn't aware of how things worked. Now that she was on the soccer team and dating the head cheerleader, though only three people at school knew that, she had to get used to participating.

"I could have done something with Madison," Claire said not making eye contact with Seth.

"No you couldn't have," Seth disagreed. "Coach makes all the cheerleaders perform together." Claire frowned.

"Fine," she said sighing. "But why a song that's half in Spanish."

"Cause your Mexican," Seth said like it was obvious. Claire rolled her eyes at him. He was such an idiot sometimes. "I gotta go."

"Sure leave us with the angry Latina," Callie joked. Seth laughed as he left.

"Are you still angry honey?" Arizona asked going to her daughter. Claire shrugged.

"Okay then. I have to go to work. I have an emergency surgery," Arizona said.

"Is it Alexander?" Claire asked concerned. Claire had gotten attached to the young boy Arizona was treating. She visited him every day for the last week, bringing him comic books, action figures and movies.

"No it's not Alexander," Arizona assured her. Abby had come to Arizona the previous night telling the doctor how much she appreciated the young orderly keeping her son company.

Claire ran out of the room to her bedroom. She had spent the last week working on a present for Alexander and now it was finished. Arizona and Callie exchanged a confused look but stayed still, waiting for Claire to return. "Can you give this to Alexander?" Claire asked handing a framed picture to Arizona. "I was going to take it to him tomorrow before his surgery but I want him to have it now."

"Claire this is amazing," Callie said taking the picture from Arizona. Claire drew a photo of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, Alexander's two favorite transformers. She had looked up different photos of each transformer but hadn't found one she liked so she used existing photos for her template before creating her own image of each.

The picture was outlined in charcoal and colored with different paints. Callie looked closely at the bottom of the page. "You didn't sign it," Callie said frowning. "You should always sign your work. If people start seeing it they may want to buy it. You don't want people stealing credit for something you worked so hard on."

Callie gently opened the frame and grabbed a black marker off the counter before handing both to Claire. Claire quickly signed the bottom corner, although she didn't really want to. Her art was never about getting credit or money. She did it because she enjoyed it.

The picture was tucked back into the frame. "I'll make sure he gets it," Arizona promised. "I have to go. Don't stay up too late and I'll send someone over with some food."

Arizona hurried out of the apartment so she wasn't late. "Are you staying?" Claire asked Callie.

"As much as I would love to stay, I can't," Callie said. "I have bones to rebuild." She kissed Claire's forehead and headed out the door.

Once Callie was gone Claire decided to clean up the apartment. Arizona hated a dirty apartment but never really had time to clean. The time she was home she wanted to spend having fun and relaxing after stressful days at work. Claire had taken it upon herself to help out by cleaning. A part of her didn't want Arizona to regret taking her in so she made sure she was useful.

It took about an hour for her to dust and vacuum the entire apartment, including both bedrooms, and clean the two bathrooms. She put away all the cleaning products and tossed the dirty rags into a basket so they could be washed later.

She got herself cleaned up and grabbed her textbooks, taking them to the kitchen table. In fifteen minutes she had the entire table covered in textbooks and papers were everywhere. She had her pencil in her mouth, concentrating hard on the math problems when there was a knock on the door.

Claire sighed in relief. The math was beginning to hurt her head, equations were blurring together. The person at the door knocked again. "I'm coming," Claire called. She sat her things aside and stood up, stretching her muscles.

"Hey," Lexie Grey said when Claire opened the door. She held up a bag of food. "Arizona asked me to stop by with some dinner."

"You're my hero," Claire said, taking the bag from Lexie. She noticed there was food for both of them so she went to the kitchen and grabbed some plates and cups. "What do you want to drink? We have soda, juice, coffee, water, milk."

"Soda is good," Lexie answered. "Do you mind if I move these?" She pointed to the textbooks on the table. Claire looked up.

"No go ahead. I need a break," Claire said. She poured two glasses of coke and brought them to the table as Lexie shut the books and placed them on the counter with Claire's homework inside.

"This seems pretty intense," Lexie said. She started pulling out burgers and fries and placing them on the plates Claire brought. "Are you sure you aren't doing too much?"

Claire had just taken a bite of her burger when Lexie asked her question. She quickly chewed and swallowed her food before answering, "I'm fine Lexie. I can handle the work. Math is just harder for me then my other classes."

"I'm actually really good in Math," Lexie commented. "I can help you if you want."

"That would be awesome," Claire said sighing in relief. She no longer had to dread spending the entire weekend on her math homework. She was starting to expect long nights with coffee as her only companion. "So, Callie says you're dating Mark Sloan. What is that like?"

"It's great," Lexie said forcing a smile on her face. Claire raised an eyebrow. "Well it was great. He has a daughter, an eighteen year old daughter and she is horrible."

"What do you mean horrible?" Claire questioned.

"She's vapid and rude and I can't stand being in the same room as her," Lexie ranted. "But she's Mark's daughter and when I got in a relationship with him I never thought this would happen and now… I don't know."

"You mean your boyfriend having a daughter that's only a few years younger than you," Claire clarified.

"Five years and yeah," Lexie said.

"What are you going to do?" Claire asked curious.

Lexie sighed and put down her burger. "I honestly don't know," she said.

"I know I'm not an expert in relationships or anything but do you want my advice?" Claire asked. Lexie nodded as she grabbed a French fry. "If you have to think about what you want to do, if the answer isn't clear to you, maybe you shouldn't be with him."

"You're right," Lexie said sadly. "But enough of my problems, let's get you through math class."

They finished eating and Claire grabbed her math book and worksheet. Lexie spent the next hour helping Claire with her homework until she finally understood it. "You are a lifesaver," Claire said getting up to get another drink.

"Arizona told me you're going to be in the talent show," Lexie commented, taking the soda Claire handed her. Claire groaned.

"Yeah," Claire said. "Seth didn't give me much of a choice."

"I think it's cool," Lexie said. "I did the talent show once when I was in school."

"Really?" Claire asked looking up from her can.

"Yeah," Lexie said.

"Did you win?" Claire asked curious.

"No," Lexie answered. "It wasn't about winning for me. I just did it because it was fun. High school is full of experiences, some good and some not so good. You have to learn to enjoy them all even if they don't sound fun because once you're out of school you will never get the chance to do them again."

"You're right," Claire said. "I should enjoy this."

"Do you know what song you are supposed to be singing?" Lexie asked.

"Seth picked La Isla Bonita," Claire said.

Lexie chuckled. "You and Seth are going to sing Madonna?" Claire nodded. "Let me know when the talent show is. I want to see that."

Claire laughed. "Of course," Claire agreed. "I actually started planning my outfit."

Lexie raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you didn't want to do the talent show," she said.

Claire blushed. "Well I don't, well didn't, but homework was getting tiring so I took a break. I'm not much of a fashion artist but do you want to see?"

"Sure," Lexie said eagerly. Arizona told her about the drawing she had done for Alexander and Lexie was looking forward to seeing her work.

Claire dug through her papers before handing the sketch to Lexie. "Wow this is pretty good," Lexie said. "That's an interesting outfit. What is Seth supposed to be wearing?"

"I haven't sketched that out but I figured black pants and a black button down shirt," Claire said.

"You put a lot of thought into this," Lexie said handing Claire back the paper.

"If I'm going to do this I want to do it right," Claire said. "I want to win, even if it is a long shot."

"Can you dance?" Lexie questioned.

"I can dance," Claire confirmed. "Sort of. Does Just Dance and Dance, Dance, Revolution count?"

Lexie laughed. "No, that doesn't count," she said. She got up and went to Arizona's stereo. She fumbled through the stack of CD's until she found what she wanted. Once the song she wanted was planning she offered her hand to Claire. "I'm pretty good at dancing."

Claire took Lexie's hand and the brunette doctor taught Claire some dance moves she thought would be useful. "Thanks for the tutoring," an exhausted Claire said thirty minutes later. They were both sitting on the couch, sipping water. "For dancing and math. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime Claire," Lexie said. She reached over and squeezed Claire's hand. "You can call me anytime if you need help or if you want to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Lexie made her way to the familiar apartment. She silently prayed Callie wasn't home, that she was with Arizona and Claire. Claire. Lexie had really grown to like the girl. She was kind, smart, dedicated, working herself as hard as she could, too hard in Lexie's opinion, so she could maintain her perfect grades. The more Lexie got to know her the more she liked what she saw. She found herself looking forward to days Claire worked and smiling whenever the girl walked in the room.

_Please Callie don't be here_, she thought again. She didn't want an audience for this. She didn't think she could go through with it if Callie were here.

Lexie knocked on the door. "Hey Lex," Mark said opening the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Is Sloan here?" Lexie questioned. She doubted it as she didn't hear the obnoxious eighteen year old girl.

"No she went out for a walk," Mark answered. Mark stepped aside to let her inside. "Lexie what's going on?"

"We need to talk," Lexie said. This had to be one of the hardest things she had ever done but Claire was right. She couldn't do this anymore. She wasn't ready to be a mother, or a grandmother.

"Talk about what?" Mark asked. He was confused. This time yesterday everything was great between them but now… he wasn't sure.

"I can't do this anymore Mark," Lexie said. She couldn't fall apart. She wouldn't allow herself to. She had to go to Claire's talent show in a few hours. She had to be strong. "I was getting used to living here with you and now—I don't know. It's like you want me to be Sloan's mother and grandmother to that baby and I can't."

Mark stood there, his mouth open. He had not expected this. "But Sloan needs me, needs us."

Lexie shook her head. "No Mark, she may need you but she doesn't need me and I don't want to put you in a situation where you have to choose because I know you will choose her and you should choose her."

"Lex," Mark said reaching for her. She backed up.

"I'm sorry Mark," she said before turning and leaving.

Lexie started crying when she got her car. She loved Mark but she couldn't do it anymore and it was unfair to both of them to stick around when she was unhappy.

She checked her reflection and wiped the tears away. Thankfully her makeup wasn't messed up too badly.

She quickly fixed it before driving to Arizona's apartment. Callie, Arizona and Lexie were going to drive to the high school together. Seth and Claire stayed at school to prepare for the talent show.

Callie was already at Arizona's apartment when the younger doctor arrived. "Hey Lexie come in," Callie said stepping aside. "Are you alright?"

Lexie nodded. "Little Grey," Arizona called happily. "I'm glad you came and I know Claire will be happy you came too."

Lexie didn't have to fake her smile when Arizona brought up Claire. She was genuinely happy to see the Latina. "So are you ladies hungry?" Callie asked. Arizona nodded and Lexie shrugged. She didn't really feel like eating but she knew she should.

Callie took Arizona and Lexie to a diner close to the high school. "Is anyone else coming tonight?" Lexie asked, munching on her fries.

"Pretty much everyone," Callie said.

"And whose fault is that?" Arizona asked raising an eyebrow. "Claire said she didn't want a lot of people there."

"It was an accident," Callie cried in her defense. Arizona snorted.

"It was an accident that you handed out flyers for the talent show?" Arizona questioned.

"Total accident," Callie repeated. Lexie laughed. It was nice how proud they were of Claire. She was proud of the girl.

The two women continued their bantering much to Lexie's amusement. She loved Callie and Arizona's relationship. It was what she wished she had, a lover as well as a best friend. She didn't have that with Mark even though she loved him.

Arizona checked her watch after they finished eating. "We should get going," the blonde doctor said.

Callie paid the bill and escorted Lexie and Arizona out of the diner. "How long do we have before the show starts?" Lexie asked.

"Less than an hour," Arizona replied. "And we still have to find seats. The others are meeting us there."

"I heard Cristina wasn't very happy she had to come to the talent show," Lexie commented. Callie snickered. She had been there when Owen told her they were coming. It took both Owen and Meredith to beg her to go before she finally agreed.

"Well it is Cristina," Arizona said shrugging. She wasn't bothered by it. Cristina didn't care about high school students pretending to be talented.

"Owen is just as bad as me," Callie said. They were walking to the school since it was only a few blocks away. "He was acting like a proud father earlier."

"He really likes having Claire around to teach," Arizona said. "I'm pretty sure he's going to try and get her to be his protégé."

"Damn," Callie said. "I was hoping to get her to do Ortho."

Lexie laughed. "Nice try Callie but she told me if she were to be a doctor she would want to work trauma."

"Bout time you guys got here," Cristina said when the three women walked into the auditorium after handing over their tickets.

"Well excuse us for eating," Callie said rolling her eyes at Cristina. Cristina was like a drug addict trying to find their next fix but surgeries were her drug.

"Hey I got the signs ready," Owen said walking over to the group. He held up a couple signs he made on an eight and a half by eleven piece of paper.

"We aren't using those," Callie said shaking her head. "If you do you're going to embarrass her in front of the school." Owen looked at his signs and frowned.

"I'll take one," Lexie said grabbing the green sign from his hand. The others looked at her in disbelief. "What? I'm her boss, it's not like she can do anything about it."

"She's got a point," Arizona said shrugging. She took another sign from Owen. "I'm her mother so she can just deal with it."

Callie laughed and took another sign. If everyone else was going to embarrass the Latina then she might as well join in.

The rest of Claire's group arrived within ten minutes. The group consisted of Richard, Adele, Mark, Teddy, Cristina, Owen, Meredith, Derek and Alex. A few people noticed how awkward it was between Mark and Lexie but no one said anything. "Let's go get some seats," Arizona said, turning and walking down the aisle to the front of the auditorium.

The first two rows were saved for the contestants, so the contestants could watch the other performances. Arizona picked seats in the middle section of the third row. She pulled out her camera and chuckled when Callie pulled out a video camera she bought the day before so she could film Seth and Claire's performance as well as Madison's performance with the cheerleaders.

The majority of the doctors watched the performances respectfully, clapping when each performer finished. Cristina and occasionally Alex and Meredith started laughing at some of the performances. While Arizona didn't laugh even she had to admit some of them were pretty bad. The entire audience laughed at the football players performance.

The committee in charge of the talent show allowed anyone and everyone to participate as long as their talent was legal and not too dangerous. Needless to say it was entertaining for everyone else.

"They should be on next," Arizona whispered to Lexie. Lexie sat up straighter. She had spent the last couple weekends helping Claire and Seth with their dance so she had a good idea what it would be like. She couldn't wait to see the finished product. Seth and Claire had refused to sing for her, saying they wanted her to be surprised.

After a decent piano rendition of My Heart Will Go On, the stage went black. After about a minute strobe lights turned on and Lexie, and the others, saw Seth on stage dressed in all black.

Lexie's jaw dropped when Claire walked onto the stage. She was wearing black booty shorts and a black top. She looked far more grown up then her sixteen years and for the first time Lexie was seeing her as a woman instead of a teenage girl. Lexie's eyes never left the Latina's body as she danced across the stage with Seth.

When they finished Lexie stood with the others and clapped as hard as she could. She ignored the stinging in her hands. "Damn," Alex said when the clapping stopped.

"Don't even think about it Karev," Arizona said turning to Alex. "She is sixteen." Lexie frowned. She had forgotten Claire was only sixteen.

"Not to mention the fact that you're a man whore," Meredith added.

Now that Claire was done performing they weren't very excited for the rest, with the exception of the cheerleader's performance. After the cheerleader's performed the judges announced a fifteen minute break while they picked the winners.

"Hey," Claire called walking up to her makeshift family. She was still wearing the outfit she wore during the performance and Lexie had to tear her eyes away from the girl's legs.

"Hey honey," Arizona said hugging her daughter. "You guys were amazing."

"Thanks," Claire said blushing.

"Yeah amazing," Lexie agreed.

"Do they have snacks or something?" Claire asked looking around. "I'm starving."

Arizona led her to the front of the auditorium where some clubs were selling snacks and drinks. Claire picked out some crackers and water and Arizona paid for them. "Where's Madison?" Callie asked looking around.

"With her parents," Claire answered. Claire didn't like Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Though Claire had only met them once she could tell they weren't very nice and they didn't like Arizona. It didn't take long for Claire to figure out why Madison stayed in the closet. Her guess was, like her own parents, Madison's would react badly.

"Right," Arizona said. She too had met them once and when they had figured out Arizona was dating Callie their demeanor changed into something less than pleasant.

"Claire," Seth called. He was also wearing his costume.

"Hey Seth, Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez," Claire said. Seth's mom hugged the young Latina tightly.

"Hello mija," Mrs. Hernandez greeted warmly. "What did we say about calling us by our names?"

"Sorry Carla," Claire said blushing in embarrassment.

"Claire?" Arizona questioned confused. She figured they were Seth's parents due to the familiarity because she hadn't met them.

"Oh right," Claire said. She had forgotten they didn't know each other. "Carla, Javier this is Dr. Arizona Robbins my mother," Arizona beamed, "Dr. Callie Torres, my other mother I guess, she's Arizona's girlfriend," Callie got a goofy smile on her face, "Dr. Lexie Grey my boss, my other boss Dr. Owen Hunt, his wife, Dr. Cristina Yang, Cristina's best friend Dr. Meredith Grey, Meredith's husband Dr. Derek Shepard." She continued on introducing the rest of the doctors that came.

"Everyone this is Carla and Javier Hernandez, Seth's parents," Claire finished.

"Please to meet you," Arizona said offering her friend.

"You too Arizona," Javier said in his thick Spanish accent. "We thank you for taking care of our Claire."

Claire blushed and turned to Seth. "Are you hungry?" she asked him. He nodded. "Great, come with me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the food booths.

"Don't fill up on junk food," Arizona yelled after them. "We are taking you out for dinner later."

Claire waved at them, showing that she heard Arizona. "I'll go with them," Lexie muttered before hurrying away.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was back in their seats and the contestants were on stage waiting for the results. Several acts had already been dismissed for not placing. There were prizes for first place, the runner ups, second place and third place. With ten acts still on the stage, including Claire and Seth and Madison in the cheerleaders, it was going to be a tough battle.

"In third place," Principal Vasquez announced. "Is Robert Swartz with his piano rendition of My Heart Will Go On."

The other nine acts and the audience clapped for Robert. "In second place," Principal Vasquez continued. "Is Rebecca Sanders with her juggling act."

There was more clapping. When the clapping stopped everyone was removed from the stage except the cheerleaders and Seth and Claire. Arizona held her breath in anticipation while Callie was whispering in her ear, telling her to breathe.

"The winners of the 25th annual talent show are…" he trailed off and someone did the drumroll on the drums that were on stage. "Seth Hernandez and Claire Rivera."

The doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital stood up and cheered for the two. Madison walked over to Claire and Seth and hugged them. She held onto Claire a bit longer than she did Seth and whispered something into the Latina's ear.

Arizona watched the girl blush and bite her lip before saying something and looking in her direction. She assumed Madison asked her to do something or go somewhere but she needed to ask for permission first.

Seth was handed a trophy by the principal and they shook hands. Seth tapped Claire's shoulder to get her attention away from her girlfriend and the Latina shook Principal Vasquez's hand.

Principal Vasquez handed the pair some papers which was part of their prize. It allowed them to go to lunch early, as long as the teacher agreed, for the rest of the school year and they had a homework pass for each class where they could get full credit for an assignment even if they didn't do it. It would be most useful when they had a test to study for and didn't get a chance to finish their assignment. There was also a $25 Visa card for each of them.

Seth and Claire jumped off the stage and headed over to their parents. "Hey," Arizona said hugging her. "Congratulations."

"Thanks Ma," Claire said. Arizona hugged her tighter. "Ma… Arizona… can't breathe."

Arizona flushed in embarrassment and pulled away. "Sorry," she said grinning sheepishly.

"So," Claire said shifting her weight to her right foot. "Madison invited me to a party tonight. Apparently all of the contestants are getting together to celebrate. Can I go after dinner? Madison offered to pick me up."

"Is Seth going?" Arizona asked. Claire nodded. Arizona rubbed her head. She should have known parties were coming. Claire was a teenager after all. Still she was exactly thrilled her new daughter was growing up so quick. "Alright," she agreed. She prayed she didn't regret this decision. "You can go," Arizona held up her hand before Claire could get too excited, "But you have to be home by two in the morning, normally curfew is midnight but it's already getting late so I'll give you some extra time and if you come home drunk you will find yourself grounded for a very long time. Got it?"

"Yeah Ma," Claire said.

"Lastly you will be hanging out with me and Callie this weekend," Arizona continued as Callie walked over to the women. "The three of us are going to have a little talk."

Claire paled as she realized what Arizona meant. They were going to have 'the talk.' "That's the deal," Arizona said. "Take it or leave it." Callie was grinning in a way that scared Claire. She had a bad feeling about this.

The Latina sighed. She wanted to go to the party and if suffering through an awkward conversation was what it took then she would take the suffering. Besides she liked the idea of having a parent, well parents including Callie that cared about her and her safety. Unlike her birth parents that were more concerned with their image than Claire's happiness.

"Fine," Claire sighed. "I'll do it."

Arizona almost felt bad for her daughter when she saw Callie's face. "We are going to have so much fun," Callie said rubbing her hands together.

"Callie," Arizona scolded. "Behave please."

"Yes dear," Callie muttered. "Come let's get you some food."

The doctors and Claire went to TGIF for dinner. Seth was going to meet them at the party, which didn't start till nine, and Madison was picking her up after Claire texted her. It was after eight when they got to the restaurant.

The host saw the large group of people and groaned. "How many?" he asked.

Richard was in the front along with Adele and turned around to count the people. "Thirteen," Richard replied.

"Let me see what I can do," he said. "Name?"

"Richard," Richard replied.

The host wrote his name down and excused himself to find someone to help with tables. Claire wove in and out of doctors until she found Lexie. "Hi," Claire said standing in front of the brunette doctor.

"Hey," Lexie said smiling. She forced herself to look at Claire's face and not down at her legs.

"Thanks for your help with the dancing," Claire said grateful. "We couldn't have done it without you, so thanks."

"Anytime," Lexie said. She was really hoping there would be a next time. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish, let alone sang it so well."

Claire laughed. "I don't speak Spanish, not much at least," she said. "Seth's parents speak it a lot and I've learned from being there. He had to teach me to pronounce the words."

The host called the group over to their table. Claire sat beside Owen and Lexie and across from Callie and Arizona. The waiter came over next to take their drink orders. Almost everyone was having alcohol of some kind, beer for the guys and margaritas for the girls, except for Richard, Adele and Claire.

Claire sipped her water as she waited for the iced tea she ordered. "How's Alexander?" Claire asked Arizona.

"He's doing great," Arizona said happily. She thanked the waiter as she sat down her strawberry margarita. "He should be leaving in a few days. He really liked the picture you drew for him. So did his mom."

The doctors turned their attention to the blushing Latina. "What did you draw him?" Meredith asked, looking around her sister to Claire.

"Bumblebee and Optimus Prime," Claire mumbled. She tried to hide behind Lexie but the intern wouldn't allow it.

"That I would like to see," Teddy said. "I love Transformers."

Callie pulled out her phone and scrolled through photos until she found the one she wanted. She handed it to Arizona who turned around and handed it to Teddy. "Wow," Teddy said in surprise. "This is amazing." Callie's phone went around the table until everyone had a chance to see it. There were multiple compliments regarding the photo.

Owen and Derek ordered several appetizers, including spinach dip, mozzarella sticks and chips and salsa, for the group to share. Callie, Lexie and Arizona weren't super hungry since they ate before the talent show but they indulged in a few chips. Claire, however, was starving as she hadn't eaten anything, other than some crackers during the break, since lunchtime.

"So what are you doing this weekend?" Lexie asked Claire. Claire looked up and saw Arizona and Callie watching her, probably trying to figure out if she would back out of the deal.

"Um," Claire said swallowing a chip and blushing. "Hanging out with Callie and Arizona."

"Really?" Lexie asked surprised. "I don't know of any teenagers that would voluntarily hang out with their parents."

"I don't have much of a choice," Claire told Lexie. "There's a party tonight and Arizona said if I wanted to go then I had to hang out with them this weekend."

Lexie's eyes widened, "Oh you're getting the talk this weekend." She started laughing. "Good luck."

Claire glared and shot her straw wrapper at her. The waiter came by and took their orders, promising the food would be done right away. "So how is working going?" Teddy asked Claire.

Claire opened her mouth to speak, a chip with spinach dip on it stopped in midair, but Owen beat her too it. "She's doing great," Owen said excited. "The patients love her. I'm thinking about teaching her to do sutures next time someone comes in."

Callie whistled. "Damn girl," she said. "If you got Owen singing your praise you must be good."

Claire blushed and shoved the chip in her mouth. "Don't you have to be a doctor to do stitches?" Claire asked.

"Technically yes," Lexie answered. "However we doctors get hurt quite often," she looked to Owen, who had punched a wall a couple weeks before Claire started at the hospital. "It would be good for you to practice on us. Some people may even let you practice on them."

"People would allow a sixteen year old girl with no medical degree to do sutures on them?" Claire asked in disbelief.

"If they have no insurance and no money than most likely yes," Derek answered. "If you did suture them the bill would be very small, if there is a bill at all. At the most they would pay for the supplies they used. Besides we are a teaching hospital."

"A teaching hospital for doctors," Richard reminded them. He turned to Owen. "It's great you want to teach Ms. Rivera but you have to remember she is not a doctor."

"But if we had permission," Owen said.

"If you have permission then fine," Richard agreed. "But you best make damn sure her sutures our up to our standards. If anything goes wrong it's on your ass."

Claire was surprised by the faith Owen had in her. She wasn't a doctor but the more time she spent working and being around patients the more she liked the idea of being a doctor. "So I have an announcement," Richard said.

Everyone turned to Richard and gave him their full attention. "Many of you have heard the rumors concerning a merge," he began. He looked at Derek as he spoke as Derek was the one most interested in the news. "I'm here to say the merge is going to happen."

The doctors looked around the table. Claire remembered hearing concerns about the merge but had no idea what it would mean for her, the doctors or the hospital. "We will be merging with Mercy West on Monday," he continued.

Whispers were heard throughout the table and no one noticed the waiters bringing out the food. "What does this mean for us?" Teddy asked.

"At the moment it means nothing for all of you," Richard said. "I can't say for sure what will happen in the future but I can say all of your jobs are safe."

An hour had passed and Claire texted Madison to pick her up so they could go to the party. Most of the conversation had revolved around the upcoming merge but the doctors were no longer worried, for the most part.

Claire's phone buzzed with a text from Madison. She was here. "I have to go," Claire told Arizona. Arizona nodded.

"Have fun," she said. "And remember your curfew is 2am."

"Yeah Ma," she said hugging Arizona and then Callie. She gave Lexie a quick hug and waved to everyone else.

"Hey babe," Madison said when Claire got outside. She kissed Claire's cheek and took her hand. "How was dinner?"

"It was good," Claire replied. She eyed her girlfriend. Madison had changed out of her cheerleading outfit and into black skinny jeans and a blood red halter top. "Chief Webber said our hospital is merging with Mercy West."

"Is that good or bad?" Madison asked concerned. They walked to the cheerleader's car and Madison held the door open for her.

"Well Chief Webber said none of our jobs will be affected," Claire said. She stopped talking while Madison went to the driver's side of the car. "But if someone is to get fired I would most likely be the first to go," she continued.

Madison snorted. "I highly doubt that," she said. "Dr. Hunt loves you. If it wasn't for the fact that he's married and old I would be concerned."

Claire rolled her eyes. "You forgot to mention he's a man," Claire said.

"There's that too," Madison laughed. "I'm surprised Arizona let you come tonight."

"I am too," Claire said. "She has some conditions to allow me to come." She shuddered at the thought.

"Conditions?" Madison asked raising an eyebrow.

"Curfew is two, I can't come home drunk and I have to spend the weekend with Callie and Arizona," Claire said ticking off her fingers to make sure she got all three.

"I'll make sure you get sober by then," Madison said winking at her. "I don't think she would be that mad. Getting drunk in high school is a rite of passage."

"It's not as much fun when your parents decide you need the sex talk," Claire commented offhandedly.

Madison coughed. "They think we are having sex?" she asked. She had thought about it. She was seventeen, she thought about it often. She was hoping tonight would be the night the two of them took that next step but she wasn't sure. Madison didn't want to pressure her girlfriend.

"I think they know it's a possibility and they want me to be prepared," Claire said shrugging.

"And is it?" Madison asked, glancing at the Latina.

They were stopped at a signal and Claire locked eyes with Madison. "Yes it is," Claire answered. Madison reached over the center divider and held Claire's hand.

Madison parked along the street a few houses away so they would have an easier escape. One of the cheerleaders was hosting the party since her parents were out of town and her older brother was supplying the alcohol.

The only rules of the house were not to break anything, they had removed the most valuable items since there were accidents, and if you were going to throw up do it in the toilet or at least make sure it's cleaned up.

One of Seth's teammates handed Claire and Madison a drink when they walked through the door. It was their welcome present. "The girl of the hour," one of the guys yelled. Several football players cheered.

Claire rolled her eyes. She was friends with most of the football team thanks to Seth and friendly with all the cheerleaders thanks to Madison. For tonight only the popular kids, meaning cheerleaders and sports teams, allowed the less popular people to celebrate with them.

"Still don't get how you did it man," Jacob Washington said clapping Seth on the back.

"Well it helps that we weren't dancing to Beyoncé," he said. The football team decided to dance and lip sing to Beyoncé's Single Ladies.

Claire laughed. That was, in her opinion, the best performance of the night. "Come on," Madison said linking their arms together.

The walked around the house together, making small talk with the other participants, before they ended up in the kitchen. Madison grabbed a bottle of tequila and dragged Claire to the stairs. "Do you want to go upstairs with me?" she asked softly.

Claire looked at her girlfriend and back toward the living room where everyone else was. She knew the real reason Madison asked her upstairs. But did she want to go? She looked back at Madison and she knew the answer. Yes, she did want to go. "Yes," she replied.

Madison smiled and they went upstairs.

* * *

><p>If anyone is curious about Seth and Claire's performance look up La Isla Bonita by Naya Rivera and Ricky Martin. That's what I based this on.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

_Sorry this took so long but updates should be quicker._

_This takes place during season 6._

_There will a sequel that takes place 10 years after this story ends and will focus more on seasons 8 and 9._

* * *

><p>Madison groaned and rolled over, her girlfriend's arm falling off her body. She was vaguely aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes. She frowned, trying to remember where she was and why her head hurt so much. It took her a few minutes but the memories of the night came flooding back.<p>

She turned her head to look at her sleeping girlfriend and smiled. Claire looked so peaceful when she slept. Madison turned her head to the other side and saw the clock. Her eyes widened when she saw it was 1:50am.

"Claire, wake up," Madison said shaking her girlfriends shoulder. Claire stirred but didn't wake up. "Claire, you have to get up. It's almost two and you're already going to be late getting home." Madison was so very grateful she didn't have a curfew on weekends. She hoped she didn't get her girlfriend into too much trouble.

Claire quickly sat up, the blanket falling off and exposing her naked body. "Madison," she mumbled rubbing her forehead. Her head was pounding and it felt like it was going to explode. "Where are we?"

She turned to her girlfriend and saw she too was naked. Her eyes widened in realization and she blushed. "I take it you remember," Madison said smiling. She leaned over and kissed Claire. She climbed out of bed and started to sort through the mess of clothes, occasionally tossing something to her girlfriend.

Claire climbed out of the bed as Madison tossed a sock at her. She stared at it for a minute before putting it on. She had to duck when Madison threw her shorts at her as they were aimed at her head. She sat them aside for now. There was no way she could wear those without underwear, not if she wanted to keep from exposing herself to anyone that saw her. "Grab my underwear," she called.

Madison reached for the nearest pair and saw they were hers. She threw them on before digging around for Claire's. She finally found them hanging on the bed post. She eyed them for a second before tossing them to her girlfriend. "If you like them that much I'll buy some for you," Claire muttered, having caught her girlfriend staring.

Madison blushed. "I was just thinking how much I liked taking them off of you," she said. She turned and winked at Claire.

The Latina blushed and tumbled down to the ground in her struggle to get her shorts on. "That's going to leave a mark," Claire groaned, rubbing her outer thigh.

"1:55," Madison read panicked. "You are going to be in so much trouble. I'm so sorry."

Madison was having a slight meltdown as she realized it was her fault Claire was going to be home past curfew. "Madison," Claire called softly. The cheerleader didn't pay her any attention. The Latina sighed and went over to her girlfriend's side. "Hey," Claire touched Madison's bare shoulders. "This isn't your fault, okay?" Madison nodded. "This is my fault too and honestly, tonight is worth whatever punishment I get."

Claire leaned forward and kissed the cheerleader. Madison smiled and wrapped her arms around Claire's shoulder, hugging the girl against her body. It took them a moment to realize they were both topless. Madison jerked away and rushed to finish getting dressed. Claire frowned but put on a bra and top that was handed to her.

The two girls managed to sneak out of the house without anyone catching them. Most of the partygoers were passed out throughout the house and Seth had gone home hours ago. Madison drove Claire home as quickly as she could without getting busted for speeding. Not that it would have mattered. There was no one on the road.

By the time the older girl had pulled up to the apartment complex where Arizona lived it was well past two in the morning. "I'll see you Monday?" Madison asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Claire said, leaning over to kiss the worried girl. "Arizona is not going to pull me out of school for missing curfew."

"But she may for having sex," Madison muttered. She dug through her purse and pulled out some perfume. She sprayed her girlfriend with the perfume.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked, coughing and fanning the area around her.

"Trying to mask the scent of sex," Madison said. Claire laughed.

"How does wearing your perfume help that?" the younger girl asked. Madison frowned.

"Crap," Madison groaned. Claire chuckled and kissed her girlfriend once more before climbing out of the car. Madison stayed on the side of the road until Claire made it inside the building.

The young girl dreaded what would happen when she got home. She didn't want to hear how disappointed Arizona was in her and she certainly didn't want to hear Callie laughing at her and getting all excited about their talk over the weekend.

Claire walked as slow as possible up the steps. She avoided the elevator because she wanted to take her time. Finally she had made it to the front door. She took a deep breath before pulling her key out of her pocket. Before she could put her key into the door it swung open and standing in front of her were Callie and Arizona. "Hi?" Claire said nervous.

"In. Now," Arizona said stepping aside. Claire walked in. "Sit," Arizona pointed to the bar stool. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Claire glanced at the clock on the oven. It was 2:46am.

"I…" Claire started. She wanted to say something, anything to make Arizona not mad at her. It was useless though. She was late, and not just a little late, she was very late. Now she had to suffer the consequences. She just hoped Arizona didn't make her leave.

"What Arizona is trying to say is, you really should have fixed your hair before you got home," Callie injected snickering. Arizona glared at her girlfriend. That was not what she meant but she had to admit it was a good idea.

Claire reached up and tried to flatten her hair. She hadn't realized it was so messy. Arizona rubbed her face. "Were you drinking?" she asked though she already knew the answer. She could faintly smell the scent of alcohol. She was more interested as to whether or not her daughter would confess.

"Yes," Claire whispered. "But it wasn't a lot."

Arizona sighed. At least she told the truth. That was what mattered most. "Why don't you go to bed," she suggested. "We can talk about this later." Arizona stepped forward and hugged her daughter. "I love you, you know," she whispered. "Nothing will change that."

Claire hugged the doctor back and said goodnight. "Don't you think you were a little too hard on her?" Callie asked when she heard Claire's door shut.

"No," Arizona said. "She has to learn Callie."

"I agree," Callie said. "But did you see the look in her eyes?" Arizona shook her head. "She's terrified. My guess she figures you will kick her out. Have you noticed other than tonight she's never broken a rule? She cleans for you and her bedroom is cleaner than any teenager's room I've ever seen. She's doing everything she can to be the perfect daughter."

Arizona sighed. How could she have missed that? "Alright," she said softly. "She's probably already asleep so I'll talk to her in the morning. Come on, let's go to bed."

Everyone slept in the next morning. Callie and Arizona were up at 9am but Claire was still asleep. The doctors agreed to let her sleep in. She was going to be punished for staying out but decided Claire could sleep first. It was the young Latina's first party, first time she was really allowed to hang out with friends, and Lexie was right. It was a rite of passage, even if it was one Arizona wished didn't happen.

The two doctors were sipping coffee when Claire stumbled out of bed at 10am. "Morning Sunshine," Arizona greeted, with an extra cup of coffee in hand. She passed it to the sleepy girl.

"Thanks," she mumbled, taking a sip of the coffee.

Callie watched as the girl paled. Chuckling she passed a pill bottle to her. "Take one of these," she instructed. "It will help with the hangover."

Arizona grabbed a glass of water and Claire quickly took the pill, willing herself not to get sick. "Madison has been texting you all morning," Arizona said. Claire frowned, looking at her cell phone that was sitting on the bar.

She grabbed her phone and scrolled through the texts. There was one sent about ten minutes after she got home saying goodnight and several more in the last hour, all asking how she was feeling and if she was alright. She quickly sent a text back that said she was fine and would talk to her on Monday.

"Phone," Callie said holding out her hand. Claire looked at her nervous but handed over her phone. "You are spending today and tomorrow with us, that means no texting your girlfriend."

"I'll make you some toast," Arizona said getting up. She stuck some toast in the toaster and decided she might as well make breakfast for her and Callie. She got out two pans, one for eggs and one for bacon, and went straight to work.

The smell of the sizzling bacon made Claire nauseous and she ran of the room and straight to the bathroom. "I got her," Callie said getting up just as the toast popped out of the toaster.

Callie headed to the bathroom and found Claire sitting on the floor, vomiting into the toilet. "Hangovers are a bitch," Callie said sitting down against the wall, behind Claire. She gently rubbed the girl's back and waited for the nausea to pass. There was nothing that could be down until the pill started to take effect, and even then it wouldn't cure the hangover.

"You're telling me," Claire groaned. "I'm never drinking again."

Callie chuckled. "I remember saying the same thing when I was about your age. Sadly it didn't stop me. Now if only there was some painful consequence to having sex, then you wouldn't want to do that again."

"Having to talk to you about it is rather painful," Claire muttered.

"And yet you still did it," Callie reminded her.

"It's not like we planned it," Claire said, leaning against the cool sink. "It just happened."

Callie sighed and got up to wet a wash cloth. She pulled Claire against her and held the wash cloth to her forehead. "I know," she said softly. "Things like this are rarely planned. Was it what you wanted?" Claire glanced at her. "I mean did you make the decision to do it, or was it something that happened because you were too drunk to fight it?"

"I wanted it," Claire told her. "I didn't really start drinking until after we made that decision. The alcohol was for nerves." Callie could understand that. It took her three glasses of wine during dinner to get up the courage to kiss Arizona after their first date and this was after Arizona had kissed her in the bathroom.

"How are you feeling?" Callie questioned concerned.

"Much better," Claire confessed.

"Are you feeling well enough to try some toast?" Callie asked. "The bread will be good for you."

"Sure," Claire asked trying to get up. Callie chuckled watching her and decided to put her out of her misery by standing up and pulling the younger girl up with her.

Claire held her breath as they left the bathroom. Arizona had three plates on the table. She walked over to the spot with only toast on it. She sat down and allowed herself a chance to breathe. She sighed in relief. The smell of food wasn't making her sick again.

"Eat slowly," Arizona instructed softly. Claire nodded and took a hesitant bite of the toast.

Satisfied that her daughter wasn't going to be sick again Arizona started eating her own breakfast. "There's extra food, in case you're still hungry," Arizona informed her.

Arizona and Callie exchanged looks while they ate, trying to decide when they wanted to start the awkward conversation. "Um, can I text Madison again?" Claire asked.

"Why?" Arizona asked raising an eyebrow at the girl.

Claire mumbled something in Spanish and English. Callie heard her, and understood her and started snickering. "Speak up," she instructed. "And in English."

"I have her bra," Claire said blushing. "She handed me hers by accident."

Arizona put her head in her hands. "You can text her tomorrow," she said. She looked up. "Look, I not going to say what you did was smart but I'm not going to scold you or punish you for it. While you are sixteen, barely, you are old enough to make your own decisions when it comes to your body. This weekend isn't about punishing you," she looked to Callie, "or embarrassing you. It's about making sure you are doing everything you can to stay safe and healthy. So Monday before your shift you will go to the clinic and get tested and Madison will go in too. You will be tested regularly, at least every other month."

Arizona looked at Callie again and tilted her head toward the kitchen. Callie nodded, getting the message. "I'm going to clean up the kitchen," she announced standing up and gathering the empty plates.

Arizona grabbed Claire's hand and led her to the Latina's bedroom. Once they were both inside Arizona shut the door for privacy. "Callie brought something to my attention this morning after you went to bed," Arizona said softly. "I should have seen it myself but I guess I wasn't paying much attention."

Claire frowned and wondered where Arizona was going with this. Was she in trouble again? "You've never broken one of my rules before last night," Arizona continued.

"I'm sorry," Claire said looking down.

"Hey," Arizona said gently touching her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You are a good kid but sometimes you should let loose a bit. Yes I have rules but you shouldn't be scared I'll kick you out if you don't follow them." Claire looked up at her, wondering how she knew. Arizona walked over to the side of Claire's bed. Claire had a framed copy of the adoption papers hanging over her nightstand. She pulled the picture off the wall and brought it back to Claire. "Do you see this?" Claire nodded. "This paper means you are my daughter, no matter what. Whether you break the rules or not I will always love you. You are stuck with me kiddo."

Claire chuckled and felt better. "Now I know Callie and I said you would have to stay here all weekend with us but I know Callie and her desire to embarrass you, so if you want to go out then you can," Arizona added.

Claire had considered Arizona's offer and calling Seth to hang out but changed her mind. She had the feeling that maybe this weekend was more about spending time together than anything else. "No, I'll stay," Claire said. She watched Arizona's face break out into a smile.

"Great," Arizona exclaimed happily. "What do you think about board games?"

"I like them," Claire admitted. "But I only got to play them when at Seth's house. My parents didn't believe in family time. They preferred free time to be spent learning."

Arizona frowned. She had yet another reason to despise Claire's parents. "Come on," Arizona said grabbing Claire's arm. She dragged Claire to the hall closet where she stored most of her games. Arizona stacked game after game in Claire's arms until she couldn't hold anymore. Claire staggered to the kitchen table before setting the boxes down as gently as she could.

Callie's jaw dropped at the sight. It looked like Arizona took out every game she owned, from Monopoly to Pictionary to Would you rather? "Arizona, I don't think there are enough hours in the weekend for us to play all of these," Callie commented, walking over to Arizona and grabbed the last two boxes she had.

"Claire's parent's never played board games with her," Arizona muttered to her girlfriend. Callie looked sadly at the girl who was currently moving the boxes to the kitchen counter leaving only Monopoly on the table so they could play it first. "I told her she could go out if she wanted. She chose to stay here."

Callie made her way back to the kitchen and started making nachos. It was her belief that it was impossible to play games and not eat at the same time. Arizona grabbed some drinks while Claire got the board set up.

The three women worked on getting everything set up so they could start their game. Claire organized the properties so they were in order. Arizona separated the money and worked on handing it out and Callie separated the community chest and chance cards and grabbed the dice and game pieces.

Once everything was settled they picked their pieces. Callie chose the pot of gold, Arizona the top hat and Claire the dog. Arizona went first, since no one else moved. "Are you ready to go back to work Monday?" Callie asked Claire.

Claire looked up. "Yeah," she replied. She missed her job. She was off the day before due to the talent show and now that it was over she was ready to go back. Her favorite part of her day was working with Lexie and Owen. "I want to see Alexander before he gets discharged." Alexander was supposed to be discharged Tuesday morning assuming his labs came back normal.

"Owen will be happy you are back," Arizona said. "And I know Lexie missed teaching you." Claire looked up at the mention of Lexie. She really liked the older woman. They had gotten rather close during the dancing lessons and found the young doctor fun to be around.

"So how bad is this merge going to be?" Claire questioned. Now that it was just the three of them she felt more comfortable in asking about the hospital merge.

Callie sighed. "Some doctors will be let go," she answered. "Between budget cuts and the excess doctors it was bound to happen but with the merge most people will keep their jobs."

The game ended when Arizona took Callie's last property. "How does she do that?" Claire groaned as they cleaned up the board.

"I don't know," Callie said laughing as Arizona stuck her tongue out at her. "But she does it every single time. The first time we played together I thought her and Lexie were cheating."

"About Lexie," Claire said, hoping she sounded nonchalant. "Is it true she broke up with Mark?" She didn't know why she cared so much about Lexie's relationship but she did. She didn't understand exactly what she was feeling but she knew it was something.

"It's true," Arizona said raising an eyebrow at her daughter. She was wondering why Claire was asking. Sure they were friends but she didn't think they talked about their relationships that much.

"I was just curious," Claire mumbled, seeing that both women were watching her. "She mentioned she was thinking about it."

The doctors were convinced but they let it go for the time being.

The small family spent hours and hours playing games. Eventually they got hungry, despite all the snacks, and Callie ordered pizza. Two large pizzas' later the doorbell rang. Claire volunteered to answer the door while Callie cleaned up the mess and Arizona worked on setting up Pictionary.

She pulled open the door, expecting Madison or Seth to show up but to her surprise it was Lexie. Her face broke out into the biggest smile.


	12. Chapter 12

"Lexie," Claire exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey," Lexie said smiling. "I came to check on you and save you from Callie's torture."

Claire laughed. "Callie's actually behaving, for the most part," she said.

"Hey," Callie yelled from the living room. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Lexie said disappointed. She was hoping to hang out with the younger girl but it didn't look like she wanted to leave.

Claire noticed the sad look on Lexie's face and quickly came up with a plan. "We were just getting ready to play Pictionary," Claire said. "You want to join us? It would make the teams even."

"Sure," Lexie said excited. Claire stepped aside and Lexie walked in.

"Hey Lex," Arizona greeted.

Lexie waved to her two friends and followed Claire to the kitchen. Lexie watched Claire grab some cups and fill them with ice.

Lexie had realized during the talent show that she was starting to develop feelings for the younger girl. She wasn't sure the extent of the feelings. At the moment it was more physical attraction but the more time Lexie spent with Claire the more her feelings grew into something more and it scared the older woman. Physical attraction she could deal with, and ignore, but romantic feelings were worse.

The fact was Claire was barely sixteen and she was twenty-three. She was too old for Claire and if they ever had a relationship she could end up going to jail and labeled a sex offender because of it. A part of her didn't care but the rational part was scared. She couldn't avoid the girl though. It wasn't fair to Claire, or herself. She just needed to be careful. She made a mental note to check the age of consent laws in Washington. Not that she planned on doing anything about her attraction. It was just good to be prepared.

"Lex," Claire called waving her hand in front of Lexie's face. The doctor was pulled from her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Lexie said. She didn't realize Claire was talking to her.

"I asked you what you wanted to drink," Claire repeated. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lexie said smiling. "I'll just have water." She glanced at her two friends and saw them eyeing her curiously. Lexie frowned. She needed to be more careful. The last thing she needed way for Arizona to find out and have her arrested, or fired.

Claire handed Lexie a glass of water and tried to carry the three sodas to the living room by herself. Lexie snickered as she watched Claire try to pick up the third large glass. Lexie grabbed it off the counter before Claire spilled all three and the two headed to the living room.

Callie and Arizona accepted the cokes from Claire's hands and gently sat them on the coffee table. "So teams," Callie said. "Should we do baby doctor and student versus the attending's?"

"Seems fair," Claire said shrugging. "Callie and I can both draw while Arizona sucks at it, not too sure about you though." She glanced at Lexie while Arizona stuck her tongue out at Claire.

"I don't draw," Lexie said shaking her head. "The only class I ever got a B in was my high school art class."

Claire started laughing at how sad Lexie looked at the thought. "Poor Lexie," Claire teased.

"And what's your lowest grade?" Lexie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"A- in geometry last year," Claire muttered. "My parents weren't happy."

Callie and Arizona frowned. "As long as you do your best we don't care what your grades are," Callie said and Arizona nodded in agreement.

Claire shook away thoughts of her parents. She did love them but at the same time she didn't like them. She was much happier here with Arizona and Callie… and Lexie. She forced herself to think of something, anything, other than the brunette doctor.

"Alright, baby doctors, let's play," Callie said hoping to lighten the mood.

Lexie and Claire mock glared at Callie. "You draw," Lexie said pushing the young girl off the couch. Callie stood at the second board, waiting for the game to begin. Claire grabbed the first card and showed it to Callie. The word was 'doctor'. She put the card down and uncapped the whiteboard marker. "Sixty seconds starting, now," Arizona said flipping over the timer.

Claire started by drawing a person, stick figure as they were limited on time, followed by a stethoscope and a clipboard. "Doctor," Lexie screamed. Arizona was half a second behind Lexie. She had gotten a little too into the game even though they had just started.

"Score one for Team Clexie," Claire said smirking as Callie's groaned.

Arizona wrote Clexie at the top left of the score sheet. She drew a line down the middle and wrote Calzona on the other side. "Calzona?" Callie asked confused. "Are we food?"

"That's a Calzone," Arizona said rolling her eyes. "Teddy said some of the others called us Calzona, so it works."

Lexie and Arizona drew another card. Lexie frowned at the word 'math.' It was a very general word so she wasn't sure if her friend would be able to guess it. The again it would be easy for her to draw. She sighed and put the card back down. Callie flipped the timer over and both women started drawing different math symbols.

"Algebra," Callie guessed. They kept drawing, this time adding equations. "Math," she said.

Claire grabbed the next card. She groaned at 'Mount Rushmore.' She wasn't sure she would have enough time for that. She waited until the timer ran out and Arizona flipped it over. Claire and Callie got started with the mountains.

"Mountains," Lexie yelled.

Claire shook her head and kept drawing. She couldn't remember which of the President's had been on Mount Rushmore so she settled for drawing random face. They ran out of time before Lexie or Arizona could guess it correctly.

"Leg," Claire shouted as soon as soon as Lexie drew a foot and two lines up. Lexie fist pumped and capped her marker. While they waited for the timer to run out the group refilled their drinks.

An hour later the game was over. It had ended in a tie and Callie and Arizona won the tiebreaker. Claire had excused herself so she could get some homework done.

She was halfway through her essay on Romeo and Juliet when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," Claire said, frowning at her paper. She loved Romeo and Juliet but writing an essay on love and the idea of soul mates was not easy. She wondered if she should have picked an easier topic, like death. Death was easy to write about when it came to Romeo and Juliet.

"Hey," Lexie said stepping into Claire's bedroom. This was the first time she had been inside the younger girl's bedroom and she wasn't sure being in here was a good idea. She had to remind herself that Callie and Arizona were in the next room.

"Do you need something?" Claire asked, confused as to why Lexie was in her room, not that she minded. Lexie's presence was oddly comforting.

"Callie and Arizona are arguing over which Top Model is better looking," Lexie said shaking her head. "I thought maybe I could help you with your homework, or just keep you company." When Claire didn't say anything Lexie started back toward the door.

"You can stay," Claire said.

Lexie sat on Claire's bed. "What are you working on?"

"An essay for English but I'm having trouble with it," Claire said. She bit her lip. "Could you read it and let me know what you think?"

Lexie agreed and took the offered paper.

_Plato's _The Symposium, _tells a story of how humans were originally born with four arms, four legs and one head with two faces. Zeus found a way to split the humans as punishment for their pride as well as a way to double the amount of tributes given to the gods._

_To keep the humans from dying Apollo sewed them up, leaving the navel as the only reminder of their original body. The human would forever long for their other half. But once they found their other half they would bask in the joy._

_The story, _Romeo and Juliet, _is a classic example of soul mates. Two people drawn together by love and not even death can part them._

Lexie scanned through the three pages of the paper. "This is amazing," Lexie said when she finished. "Have you ever thought about being a writer?"

Claire laughed and shook her head. "No, I don't like writing. It's just something I happen to be good at, part of being in a well-respected family. They accept nothing short of perfection."

"Well I liked it," Lexie said honestly. "Although I have to admit I don't like Romeo and Juliet."

Claire gasped in shock. "It's a classic. How can you not like Romeo and Juliet?"

"The story is about a thirteen year old and a seventeen year old falling in love and committing suicide all within a week of meeting," Lexie said. "The idea isn't completely horrible but so many people read it and think it is some epic love story."

"So what is your idea of an epic love story?" Claire said.

"Titanic," Lexie answered immediately.

Claire raised an eyebrow at Lexie. "She's seventeen in the story and he's twenty," Claire said. "And they knew each other for about two days. How is that better?"

"He gave up his life for her," Lexie replied. "I think that's romantic."

Claire shook her head. "Without stories like Romeo and Juliet you couldn't have stories like Titanic, well the love story part."

"Fine, I'll give you that one," Lexie admitted. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Claire said getting up and climbing on her bed next to Lexie.

"Do you believe in soul mates?" Lexie asked. When the girl didn't say anything she glanced at her. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay," Claire said. "I was just thinking. Honestly I don't know. I believe in love but I don't believe in that fairy tale love. It's one of the reasons I hate Disney movies so much. They give children unreal expectations of love. As for soul mates, I really don't know. I would like to think there is one perfect person for everyone but I don't think it's that simple. Do you believe in soul mates?"

"I think it's hard to be around Callie and Arizona and not believe in soul mates," Lexie said honestly. "It's part of the reason I knew Mark wasn't the one. It was just too hard, you know?" Claire nodded beside her. "I want what Callie and Arizona have."

Claire carefully studied the older woman. "You will get that someday," Claire said finally. "Sometime when you least expect that."

Lexie's heart skipped a beat at the smile Claire was giving her. "Yeah," she said leaning against the younger girl.

"How long do you think we have before Callie and Arizona realize you're not in the living room?" Claire asked.

Lexie laughed and checked her cell phone. "I give it another minute or so," she said.

"Lex?" Arizona called, looking for her best friend.

Lexie jerked away from the younger girl. "I spoke too soon," she said.

"Thanks for your help Lexie," Claire said. "Now I don't have to rewrite the paper."

"Anytime," Lexie said before leaving Claire's bedroom.

"There you are," Arizona said. "We thought you left." Arizona looked at Claire's bedroom door and frowned.

"I was helping Claire with her homework," Lexie said quickly. She scolded herself for losing her cool. She hadn't been doing anything wrong so there was no need for her to panic. Yet she couldn't help it. She was ashamed of her thoughts but at the same time she couldn't help them.

"Oh," Arizona said smiling. "Does she need any more help?"

Lexie shook her head. "I managed to keep her from rewriting her English paper. I think she's good now," Lexie said.

"Oh good," Arizona said relieved. "I've been trying to convince her that her homework doesn't have to be perfect but it's a bad habit to break." Arizona shook her head sadly. "She's going to overdo it one day."

"I should go home. I have to go in early tomorrow," Lexie said.

Arizona nodded and hugged her best friend. "I'll see you at work."

Lexie said goodbye to Callie and made her way out of the building. She sighed when she got outside.


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm not a doctor so if the medical part is wrong I apologize. I did look it up but the Internet isn't always reliable._

_I don't have a beta but if anyone is willing I could use one. It would help get chapters out quicker._

_Thanks for reading and reviewing._

"Mini Callie," Cristina Yang called. Claire looked up from her textbook. She looked around the hallway but there wasn't anyone around other than her and a janitor. "Yeah you," Cristina rolled her eyes, "come here."

Claire sat her textbook on the counter and walked over to Cristina. "Owen has decided you should get some experience with other departments," Cristina continued. "He wants me to take you into the OR and let you watch while I operate. I don't like having an audience so if you want a spot in that OR you are going to earn it."

"Okay," Claire gulped.

"Question one, what do you do if someone flat lines on the table?" Cristina questioned.

"You do chest compressions," Claire replied promptly. It was one of the first things Owen made her learn. If someone was flat lining and no one could get to the person immediately then Claire was authorized to do the compressions until someone else could take over.

Cristina was surprised she knew that much but quickly moved on. "What gauge needle would you use for an IV?"

Claire frowned. She didn't know but she could recall someone talking about it. "A 12?" she answered unsure.

"A 12, 14 or 16 is generally used if the patient is going to go into surgery while a 20 or 22 is used just if the patient needs an IV. It's not something you really need to know as a doctor, since the nurses are the ones that do IVs, but extra knowledge doesn't hurt," Cristina explained.

Claire nodded in understanding and scribbled some notes on a piece of paper and Cristina sighed. "Bring me a coffee, two sugars, no cream," Cristina instructed.

"Wait, what?" Claire asked.

"Coffee," Cristina repeated. "Bring me coffee and be in OR 3 in two hours."

Claire's face lit up. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes," Cristina said. "But I want my coffee in ten minutes."

Claire rushed off to the coffee cart on the first floor. She ordered the coffee and paid the woman. "Claire," Callie called.

Claire glanced at the woman making the coffee before turning her attention to Callie. "Cristina said I can watch her in the OR today if I get her coffee first," Claire said.

Callie frowned. "Claire, you don't have to get Cristina coffee," she said. "That's not your job and Cristina shouldn't be asking."

"I don't mind," Claire said. "I haven't really had much to do anyway. Homework is driving me crazy and I don't want to sit around and do nothing. Oh, I was going to ask, can I go to Madison's tomorrow after school to study?"

Callie raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Didn't we tell you, you're grounded?" Callie asked. Claire's eyes widened in shock, "guess not, well you're grounded for a week for staying out past curfew. You would have been grounded longer but I convinced Arizona not to punish you for having sex." Claire blushed. "My dad is flying in tomorrow anyway and he's looking forward to meeting you so you need to be home."

"Okay," Claire said. She deserved the punishment.

Callie glanced past Claire to the group of people wearing orange scrubs. "The prisoners are here," she muttered.

Claire turned around. "Wow, those are some ugly scrubs," she commented and Callie laughed. "Are they the ones from Mercy West?"

"Yep," Callie said. "You should get back to Cristina."

Claire grabbed the finished coffee and went looking for Cristina. She finally found Cristina on the third floor. "You're late," Cristina said checking her watch.

"Sorry. I was… sorry," Claire said handing over the coffee.

"Don't be late to the OR," Cristina said before going to check on her patient.

Claire watched Lexie slip into the on-call room. Claire frowned and followed the older woman. "Lexie?" Claire called.

This was the first time Claire had been in the on-call room. There was a bunk bed in the corner and another bed against the wall, under the window. Lexie was sitting on the single bed. Tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Lexie," Claire called again. She closed the door and sat beside her friend on the bed.

Lexie wiped away the tears. "Hey," she greeted. "You shouldn't be in here."

"You're upset," Claire said. "I wanted to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine," Lexie said. Claire leaned against the older woman.

"You're a terrible liar," Claire muttered.

"There's this woman, Alison Clark, Dr. Shepard and I took her in for surgery but there were some complications. She's currently on life support but Dr. Webber and Dr. Shepard are certain she will never recover. Her husband is devastated." She continued wiping away her tears. "Some cases are hard and I'm not supposed to get emotionally involved so I thought I would come here for a while. Aren't supposed to be working with Cristina?"

"She made me get her coffee and then told me to be in the OR in," she checked her watch, "ninety minutes. Other than that I have nothing to do."

Lexie laughed. "Sounds like Cristina," she said. "Did she give you a nickname? She gives all the interns nicknames."

"Yeah," Claire said. "Mini Callie."

Lexie laughed again. "Yeah I can see it," Lexie said.

"Are you feeling better?" Claire asked. Lexie had stopped crying so Claire hoped that was a good sign.

"I am," Lexie said, twisting around so she could rest her head on Claire's shoulder. "Thanks."

"Is it always this hard?" Claire asked.

"Not always," Lexie said. "But it's usually hard when the family gets involved and when there are complications and the patient dies. Children make it hard too."

Claire nodded. She tried to avoid the Pediatric ward because of the kids. She didn't want to get attached to them in case something happened. "Don't let Dr. Yang scare you," Lexie said after a moment of silence. "I know she's kind of…"

"Intimidating, borderline crazy?" Claire interrupted.

Lexie laughed. "I was going to say difficult but that works too," she said. "My point is she may be demanding but she's a brilliant doctor. She is an excellent teacher if you are willing to learn. If you work hard and pay attention she won't be as bad. You have potential so she will probably try to challenge you. Try doing some research before going into an OR with her. Even though you can't do anything it won't stop her from quizzing you."

Claire gulped loudly. "I need to go," she said jumping up. If Cristina was going to quiz her she needed to read up on the surgery she would be performing and she had no idea where to begin on that.

Lexie grabbed her hand. "This is your first time watching a surgery," Lexie said. "Cristina won't be too hard on you this time."

"I should get back to work," Claire said, though she made no move to leave, or remove her hand from Lexie's.

Eventually Lexie pulled away and Claire left the room.

The next day Claire was glaring at her math homework. How she hated math. Just as she started to understand something she would have to go and learn something new and more challenging.

She ignored the doorbell and the voices coming from the living room. She needed to get this work done and it was probably Callie coming over. "Claire," Arizona called.

Claire groaned. Apparently she wasn't going to get her work done after all. She put her pencil down and turned the light off. She left her bedroom and walked into the living room. She had been right. Callie was here, but there was another person here as well. A man Claire didn't recognize.

"Claire this is mi papi, Carlos Torres," Callie introduced. "Papi, this is Claire Rivera, Arizona's daughter."

"Pleasure to meet you young lady," Carlos said moving to hug Claire.

Claire moved closer to Arizona. Even though things had been great here at her new home she still felt uneasy around older people, especially those that reminded her of her former parents. "It's okay hun," Arizona said. "Carlos is the one that helped me get custody of you."

"Oh," Claire said. She offered her hand to the man. "Nice to meet you sir."

"None of that sir stuff," Carlos said with the wave of his hand. "Call me Carlos, or Grandpa seeing as I am your grandfather now."

"Yes sir… uh Carlos," Claire said.

Arizona squeezed her shoulder. "Can I get you anything to drink Carlos?"

"Water would be lovely thank you," Carlos said.

Arizona headed to the kitchen to get Carlos' water. "How's Mami?" Callie asked.

Carlos sighed. "Stubborn as usual," he said sadly. "I tried to get her to come but she refused."

Callie sighed. She really wished her mother would get over her prejudices but she knew it wasn't that easy. It would take time before there would be even the slightest chance her mother would accept her.

Carlos turned to his new granddaughter. "Arizona tells me your thinking about becoming a doctor," he commented.

"Yes, I was thinking about it," Claire said. "I'm only sixteen and a sophomore right now but I like working at the hospital. It's interesting and I think it would be something I would be good at."

"It's never too early to decide what you want to do with your life," Carlos said. "I was a young boy when I decided to be a businessman and look at me now. I have one of the most successful businesses in New York City. Which reminded me…"

He pulled his wallet out of his back, left pocket. He flipped through the numerous bills before withdrawing a check. He handed it to Arizona. "This is for you and Claire," he said.

Arizona took the offered check, though she wasn't entirely sure what it was. She gasped at the amount on the check. "Carlos I can't take this," she said trying to hand it back.

Callie glanced over Arizona's shoulder to see the amount. "Papi, you don't have to do this," Callie said. "I have more than enough money to support both of them and we both work."

"I know," Carlos said. "I want to do this. You and Aria both have your trust funds. Arizona will be my daughter soon enough," he gave Callie a pointed look, "so there is no reason I shouldn't do this. Besides college is expensive and if Claire wants to be a doctor she is going to need financial help."

Arizona sighed. Two hundred thousand dollars was a lot of money. It was nowhere near the amount Callie had in her trust fund but it was still a lot of money. She wanted to protest and tell Carlos she didn't need or want the money but she knew he wouldn't take it back. "Thank you Carlos," she said gratefully.

"No problem mija," he said hugging the blonde woman. "We Torres' take care of our family. You and Claire are part of our family. Now, let's talk about the wedding."

"What wedding?" Claire questioned looking between Arizona and Callie. Both women were blushing.

"We haven't talked about whether or not we want to get married," Callie said. The last thing she wanted to do was pressure Arizona into getting married. Marriage had only been discussed once, early in their relationship. Both women had expressed the desire to get married in the future that that was almost two years ago. Things had changed since then.

"The two of you have a child together now," Carlos said. "It doesn't matter if your name is on the paperwork or not Calliope," he added when he saw his daughter about to protest. "You are both caring for her and I can see Claire loves both of you as if you were her parents."

"Papi, you can't force us to get married," Callie said.

Claire slipped out of the room while Callie argued with her father over getting married. Neither one had asked Arizona's opinion on the matter. Claire's phone rang as she shut her bedroom door. "Hello," Claire answered without checking the caller ID first.

"Hey babe," Madison said.

"Madison," Claire exclaimed happily. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Madison replied. "I was doing homework but now I'm bored. Can you come over? My parents are out of town right now, we will be alone."

"I would love to," Claire said. "But I can't. Callie's dad is visiting from New York and I have to be here. Plus I'm still grounded for being out past curfew."

"Oh," Madison said sadly. "When will you be ungrounded?"

"Friday," Claire told her. "We can go out then if you want, after my game?"

"Okay," Madison exclaimed. "I'll see you at school."

"I'll see you then," Claire said before hanging up the phone.

Arizona knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" she asked opening the door just enough to poke her head inside.

"Sure," Claire said tossing her phone on her bed.

"Madison call?" Arizona questioned.

Claire nodded. "Yeah, she wanted me to go out tonight but I told her I couldn't," she replied. "Are they done fighting over when you are getting married?"

Arizona laughed. "I don't think so," she said sitting on the bed beside her daughter. "They are now speaking in Spanish so I gave up."

"Does it bother you, Callie and her dad planning out your future?" Claire asked curious. She laid her head on Arizona's shoulder and the blonde doctor wrapped an arm around Claire.

"Not really," Arizona replied. "When we first started dating yes but now, now I want to marry Callie. I want to grow old with her and—"

"Have kids," Claire finished.

Arizona shrugged. "Before I met Callie I never really thought about it. Honestly I didn't want any kids," Arizona admitted. "But the longer we were together the more I thought about our future together, a future that would include children. Then you came around and everything fell into place."

"You know I wouldn't mind if you had kids," Claire said. "I'm sure you would want a child of your own. One that shares your DNA."

"Hey," Arizona said wrapping an arm around Claire's shoulder. "You are my child regardless of your DNA. DNA doesn't make a family honey, love does."

"Thanks Arizona," Claire said. "For everything you and Callie have done for me."

"Anytime," Arizona said kissing her daughter's forehead. "Come on, get ready. Carlos is taking us out for an early dinner."

Arizona left the room to allow her daughter to get ready in private. "Is she okay?" Callie asked.

Arizona nodded. "She's fine," she assured her girlfriend. "She's getting ready so we can go."

An hour later Callie pulled her car into the parking lot of Sullivan's Steakhouse. It was still early so they had no trouble getting a table. "Order whatever you would like," Carlos said. "My treat."

Callie and Arizona each ordered a glass of wine, red for Callie and white for Arizona. Carlos got a beer and Claire ordered sweet tea. "So Callie has mentioned you are on the soccer team."

"Yes sir, uh Carlos," Claire said blushing. "Varsity soccer team."

"You must be good then," Carlos commented.

Claire shrugged. "I'm alright," she replied.

Callie rolled her eyes. "She's more than good Papi," Callie said. "Her team has only lost one game. They have a game Friday afternoon, you should come."

Carlos nodded. "I look forward to it," he said. "Callie tells me you have a girlfriend."

"I do," Claire confirmed glancing at Callie and Arizona.

"Where is she?" Carlos questioned.

"Um, at home," Claire replied. "I'm grounded so I can't see her right now."

Carlos looked at his daughter. "You should invite her and her parents for dinner," Carlos suggested. "Then I can meet my granddaughter's girlfriend."

"No," Claire shouted. The neighboring couple turned to stare at the girl. Callie glared at them and they turned away. Claire blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just her parents are like mine were. They will disown her."

"Okay," Carlos said patting Claire's hand. "We will invite Madison to come to dinner." Claire sighed in relief as the waitress came back to take their orders.

"How's school?" Arizona questioned her daughter.

Claire shrugged. "It's school," she replied. "Lexie has been helping me with homework since I can't study with Madison."

"That's because you wouldn't be studying," Callie said. "At least with Lexie we know you're studying."

"Who is Lexie?" Carlos questioned.

"Lexie Grey," Arizona replied. "She's an intern at the hospital and Meredith Grey's half-sister."

"It's good you're making friends in high places," Carlos said in approval. "It will be good for you when you are ready to get a job, especially if you decide to be a doctor."

"Papi, she is still young," Callie reminded him.

"It is never too soon to start thinking about your future," Carlos countered.

"Should we interrupt?" Claire whispered to Arizona. The two Torres' were going back and forth about Claire's future, as if the younger girl wasn't there.

"No," Arizona said shaking her head at her girlfriend and her girlfriend's father. "It's just like earlier. Let them go at it. Eventually they will get tired of arguing about your future." She saw Claire playing with her straw. "They are not trying to control you. I hope you know that. They just want what's best for you, we all do."

"I know," Claire said. "It's still strange though. My parents had my future planned out and now Callie and her father are trying to do the same. But it's not the same. They are basing it on what I am interested in doing."

Arizona squeezed her hand. "Guys can we move on?" Arizona called getting Callie and Carlos' attention.

"Yes of course," Carlos said. He eyed Claire's mostly untouched plate. "Eat neita."

Claire picked up her fork and started eating her pasta with a small smile on her face.


	14. Chapter 14

Claire stood in the locker room. It was just minutes before the soccer game started and she was nervous because Carlos Torres was in the audience. She wanted to impress Carlos. There was a knock on the lockers at the end of the row. Claire turned and found Madison smiling at her.

"Hey," Madison greeted. "You almost ready?"

"Yeah," Claire said. She walked over to Madison and threw her arms around the older girl.

"Claire, are you okay?" Madison asked concerned.

"Yeah," Claire lied pulling away from Madison. "Just nervous, you know? This team has a habit of playing dirty. I heard two girls were kicked off the team since the season started and my family is here."

"Be careful," Madison requested. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Just don't get too close to them."

Claire stared at Madison. "This is soccer," Claire reminded Madison. "You kind of have to get close."

"Well don't get hurt cause Callie and Arizona will be pissed." Claire rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. "Come on, hurry up. I want to watch my super-hot girlfriend fight over a ball."

"That sounds like a bad porno," Claire said, making a face.

Madison snorted. "Hurry up," she said kissing her cheek. "I'll see you after the game. Maybe we can go to dinner?"

"I'll ask Arizona," Claire promised.

Twenty minutes later Callie, Arizona, Carlos, Seth and Madison were wincing. "This can't be legal," Arizona muttered. Callie winced as Arizona's nails dug into her hand.

The game was brutal, more so than a high school soccer game should be. The girls of Seattle Wardolf High School were beating down the girls of Nathan Hale High, literally. Luckily no one had been hurt, until now.

Claire had the ball. She dodged one of the girls but another girl slammed into Claire. Claire fell and accidently knocked the girl that had hit her. They tumbled to the ground and Claire groaned in pain as she felt something pop. She hit her head on the ground. She tried to get up but it wasn't working. She felt pain, in her leg and her head was pounding and she was pretty sure her shoulder was dislocated, again.

Callie and Arizona were out of their seats as soon as Claire went down. Madison had ahold of Seth's arm. "She's not getting up. Why isn't she getting up?" Arizona moaned.

Callie was the first to realize something was wrong. She saw Claire hit her head. "Call an ambulance," Callie yelled, running down the bleachers so she could get to the field. Madison immediately pulled out her phone and dialed 911. Arizona got up and followed Callie to the field.

The soccer game had stopped when Claire didn't get up. Her teammates gathered around trying to figure out what was going on. The girl that had run into Claire tried backing away but Coach Sanchez grabbed her and held her in place.

"Out of the way," Callie yelled. "I'm a doctor." Everyone moved out of the way so Callie could kneel beside Claire. "Claire, honey, tell me what hurts."

"Shoulder, head, leg," she moaned.

Arizona helped Callie flip Claire over. "Shit," Arizona muttered. "We need to get her to the hospital now." She pointed out the large gash on Claire's leg.

"What the hell?" Callie carefully inspected the wound. She whipped around the girl that knocked her daughter down. "Let me see your shoe."

The girl reluctantly showed her cleat. They were spiked and made out of metal. "That is violation," Coach Sanchez said. "And now one of my players is injured."

The girl was dragged away by her coach. The coach yelled at the girl as they walked away. The coach didn't tolerate cheating. She wanted to win yes but not at the cost of the players safety.

Seth and Madison ran out onto the field. "Here." Seth pulled his shirt off and tossed it to Callie to help stop the bleeding.

Callie pressed it against the wound. "It's okay mija," she whispered stroking Claire's hair. The sirens could be heard not far away. "Seth, Madison go wait for the ambulance and bring them here." Callie turned back to her daughter.

Arizona knelt down beside her. "Claire stay awake," she instructed. "Come on, keep your eyes open. Where the hell is that ambulance?"

As she said that the sirens got louder. Soon the paramedics were running over with a gurney. "Take her to Seattle-Grace Mercy-West," Callie instructed as they lifted her onto the gurney.

"I don't feel good," Claire moaned.

Arizona pulled her phone out and dialed Owen's number. "_Hunt_," he answered.

"Owen it's Arizona. Claire's been hurt and will be arriving in an ambulance in ten minutes or so." Arizona followed the paramedics to the parking lot. She would be riding in the ambulance while Callie followed with Carlos, Seth and Madison.

"_How bad_?" Owed questioned quickly.

"She hit her head and will need a CT scan just in case. There's a large gash on her left leg from a metal soccer cleat. It's possible she has a dislocated shoulder too."

"_I'll have Derek standing by,_" Owen promised. "_I'll wait for you in the ER."_

Arizona hung up and waited for them to finally get to the hospital.

Owen was waiting for them outside of the hospital. The paramedics unloaded Claire and Owen wheeled her inside with Arizona right behind her. With Arizona's help Owen lifted Claire off the gurney and onto a hospital bed.

"Stay awake hun," Arizona said, gently slapping Claire's face.

Owen removed the gauze from the wound. "Damn," Owen muttered under his breath. He turned to the nearest nurse. "Page Lexie Grey."

The nurse nodded and rushed to follow orders.

"We need to get this wound cleaned and stitched up before she can get an MRI," Owen told Arizona.

"What do you need me to do?" Arizona questioned.

"Go to the waiting room and wait with Callie," Owen instructed.

"Owen I am a Pediatric Surgeon," Arizona began.

"She is sixteen and not a child," Owen interrupted. "She also doesn't need surgery. Let us take care of her Arizona. She will be fine."

Arizona gently stroked her daughter's hair. The young girl winced from the pain as Owen poked around the wound. "I'll be fine Ma," Claire assured her.

Arizona leaned over and kissed Claire's forehead. "I'll be with Callie. If you need me just let Owen know." She turned to Owen. "Take care of her."

"I will," Owen promised.

Lexie arrived in the ER just as Arizona left. "Claire," she exclaimed. She turned to Owen. "What happened?"

"Soccer accident," Owen informed her. "Clean the wound and get it stitched. I'm going to get her hooked up to an IV and start antibiotics. She hit her head. Keep her awake Lexie."

"Claire talk to me," Lexie instructed while she got to work cleaning the gash in her friend's leg. "What happened at the game?"

"Girl ran into me and knocked me down." Claire winced as Lexie pulled out a blade of grass that was imbedded in the wound. "Hit my head on the ground and her cleat cut me. I heard my shoulder pop."

"I can check that after I finish with this," Lexie promised. Claire closed her eyes just as Lexie glanced at her. "You have to keep your eyes open."

Owen returned and hooked Claire up to an IV. He connected the antibiotics in order to prevent an infection as well as some pain killers. Once she was set up Owen pulled out a light. "I'm going to shine this in your eyes to test your responses," he warned.

Claire blinked and Owen nodded in satisfaction. "Pupil response normal," he noted. "How are you feeling?"

"Nauseous," Claire replied.

"Possible concussion," Owen said, writing it down on her chart.

"This is going to hurt," Lexie warned. Claire flinched as Lexie began sewing up the wound.

"How bad is it?" Owen questioned.

"Not bad," Lexie answered. She was not enjoying this. While she was glad she could help Claire she didn't like causing the girl more pain. "It didn't make it to the bone. It will scar though."

"You mentioned your shoulder hurt?" Owen questioned. Claire nodded. "Which side?" Claire pointed to her left side. Owen felt around. "It's dislocated. I can put it back in place. This will hurt." Claire shrugged. Callie had relocated her shoulder once. That pain was nothing compared to the pain in her leg.

"One, two, three." Owen popped her shoulder back into place and Claire moaned in pain.

"All done," Lexie announced pulling her gloves off.

"Good. Take her down to CT. Dr. Shepard is waiting. I'll go talk to Callie and Arizona."

While Lexie took Claire to CT Owen headed to the waiting room. He found Callie, Arizona, Seth, Madison and Carlos Torres huddled together. Callie was holding Arizona's hand and doing her best to comfort her girlfriend. Seth was doing the same for Madison.

Arizona looked up when she heard the footsteps. "Owen," she gasped. She scrambled out of her seat. "How is she?"

The others looked up. This was always his least favorite part, especially when he had bad news. Not that this was particularly bad news. It wasn't great news but Claire was still alive and going to recover. "Lexie stitched up her wound. It's not as bad as we originally thought but we will need to keep a close eye on it. Lexie is taking her to CT. I'm certain she has a concussion."

"How bad?" Arizona asked.

"We don't know yet," Owen answered. "Derek will give us a better idea. Her shoulder was dislocated. I managed to put it back in place." Callie stood up to protest. That was her job. Owen held up his hand. "I'm more than qualified to do it. Would you rather her be in even more pain?"

Callie sat back down. Owen had a point. "When can we see her?" Arizona demanded.

"As soon as Lexie brings her back from the CT," Owen promised. "I will come get you later."

Lexie wheeled Claire to an empty room. "Thanks Lex," Claire said gratefully.

"Anytime." Lexie pulled the chair over and sat down.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?" Claire questioned.

Lexie shook her head. "Derek told me to stay with you until you're released sometime tomorrow. After that you will need to take at least one more day off school and at least a week away from soccer. You have a concussion and we need to keep an eye on it. Derek didn't see any cranial bleeding but it's better safe than sorry. Cranial bleeding isn't always detected right away."

"Does that mean you're going to wake me up every hour?" Claire made a face. She did not like being woken up.

Lexie laughed. "No, I will wake you up every two hours, at least until midnight. If you are fine after that I may let you sleep longer. It really depends."

Claire sighed. "Where's Arizona and Callie? I expected them to be glued to my bedside."

"Owen went to get them. From what I heard Callie's father is on the phone trying to get that girl permanently banned from sports. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get her expelled."

Claire almost felt bad for the girl. She didn't know Carlos well but she knew him well enough to know he was very protective of his family, including her. "Arizona isn't trying to get her arrested?" Claire half-joked.

"I've been too worried about you," Arizona said from the doorway. Behind her was Callie, Madison and Seth. Arizona walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. "How are you feeling?" Arizona reached over and plucked Claire's chart from Lexie's hand. She quickly scanned through it.

"How bad?" Callie asked walking into the room. She plopped down in the chair on the other side of Claire's bed.

"Concussion but no cranial bleeding, fifteen stitches in her leg, relocated shoulder." Arizona handed the chart back and turned on Callie. "I seem to remember you saying she would be fine playing soccer. 'She will be fine Arizona. Let her play'," Arizona said poorly mimicking Callie's voice.

"It's not her fault Mom," Claire said. "It was that girl's fault, not Callie's."

"Sorry Callie," Arizona muttered.

Callie stood and pulled Arizona into her arms. "It's okay. She's okay."

Arizona pulled away from her girlfriend so she could hug her daughter. She was so relieved Claire was okay. "Arizona, can't breathe," Claire groaned.

Arizona blushed and pulled away from her daughter. "Sorry," she said embarrassed.

Claire noticed Seth and Madison in the hallway. Madison had a few tears running down her cheeks while Seth looked angry. "Madison come here," Claire called, holding her arms out.

Madison crawled into her arms. Tears soaked through Claire's hospital gown. "You almost died," Madison cried.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Claire said hoping it would calm Madison down.

Arizona glared at her. "You're in a hospital with a concussion. It is just as bad as it looks, if not worse." Claire winced at Arizona's tone. She knew it wasn't her that Arizona was angry at but it still got to her. Arizona took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. I just… I can't believe they let that girl play."

"They don't check our cleats," Claire told her. "There was no reason for her not to play. Although I doubt she will be playing anymore."

"No she will not," Carlos said entering the hospital room. "She has been suspended from school and banned from all school sports."

"Thank God," Arizona said. She walked over and hugged Carlos. "Thank you Carlos."

He patted her back. "Anytime Arizona."

"Arizona we should go home. Claire will be fine here with Lexie," Callie said. Arizona looked exhausted and Callie wasn't sure how long she would last before collapsing.

"No," Arizona said shaking her head. "I'm not leaving."

"Arizona," Lexie said. "Callie is right. You should go home and sleep. Claire will be fine." Arizona shook her head again. "When's the last time you ate?" Arizona didn't answer. "Go eat at the very least. You can come back after and check on her. I'm sure the others are hungry too."

"Can I eat?" Claire asked hopeful.

"Hospital food isn't great so we'll bring you back food," Callie promised. "Is there anything in particular you want?"

Claire looked at Seth. "I know what she wants," he said. "Whenever she gets sick she always craves a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake."

"I'll stop and bring you one on the way back." Arizona hugged her daughter.

"Thanks Arizona," Claire said grateful.

Arizona kissed Claire's cheek one last time before leaving with Callie. Seth hugged Claire and followed the women out. Madison didn't want to leave Claire but she was starving too. "I'll bring you back some treats," Madison promised. She kissed Claire softly on the lips before rushing to catch up with the others.

"How are you two doing?" Lexie asked.

Claire turned her attention away from the door. "What?" she asked. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Lexie laughed and sat in the chair next to Claire. Watching over Claire for the night was her only job for the evening, unless something major happened, so she might as well get comfortable. "How are you and Madison doing?" Lexie repeated.

"Fine. I've been grounded so I haven't seen her much," Claire admitted. "We were supposed to go to dinner tonight but that's not happening now."

Lexie ignored the twinge of jealousy. "Well you can always go out in a few days."

"Lexie can we go out somewhere?" Claire asked in an attempt to change the conversation. She didn't like talking about Madison with Lexie. It just seemed wrong for some reason.

"No," Lexie said firmly.

"But Lexie-"

"You have been here less than an hour and you have a concussion," Lexie said cutting her off. "You're not going anywhere. Besides you can't walk."

"But-"

"No." Claire played with the edge of her hospital gown. Lexie sighed. She knew how much it sucked to be stuck in a hospital when you're relatively healthy. "I can bring some games for us to play," Lexie offered.

"Please."

"Wait here," Lexie instructed. "Don't move at all. I mean it. Arizona will kill me if something happens to you." Lexie looked around Claire's bed. She walked over and grabbed the button that signals the nurses that the patient needs something. She shoved it into Claire's hand. "Keep this in your hand until I come back. If something happens push the button."

"Lexie," Claire said before the young doctor could leave the room. Lexie looked at her. "You do realize I'm not five right? I'm more than capable of sitting here without something happening."

"Don't let go of that button," Lexie said before leaving. Claire rolled her eyes but did as Lexie said.

Five minutes had passed and Lexie still hadn't returned. Derek poked his head into her room. "Hey Dr. Shepard," Claire greeted.

Derek walked into the room. "You can call me Derek you know. Where's Dr. Grey?"

"She went to find some board games since I'm apparently not allowed out of this bed," Claire answered.

"She's right." Derek took a seat in the empty chair next to the bed. "Concussions can be very dangerous. That's why we need to monitor you."

"You have a concussion and are currently on some strong painkillers and antibiotics." Claire sighed. "If your brain starts swelling we have a limited amount of time to help you before it cause permanent damage. Callie and Arizona know and understand this which isn't why they aren't fighting this. Besides you have Lexie here to keep you company. Did you get food?"

Claire shook her head. "Callie and Arizona are bringing me back food. Lexie sent them away since they hadn't eaten in a while."

"That's good." Derek stood up. "I'll bring you something to snack on to hold you over since we don't know when they will be back."

"Thanks Derek."

Derek left and a few minutes later Lexie walked back inside with a small stack of games including Monopoly, Clue, chess and Candyland. "What do you want to play first?" 

"Chess," Claire answered.

Lexie placed the games on the floor by the door and walked over to the small table. She sat the box on top and pulled it over to the bed. "Black or white?" Lexie started setting up the board.

"Black."

Lexie finished setting up just as Derek walked inside. "Dr. Shepard, something wrong?" Lexie asked concerned.

"No," Derek assured her. He carefully placed two bottles of coke and two bags of cool ranch Doritos on the bed. "Just stopping by to drop off some snacks before I go check on Mrs. Clark."

"Any change?" Lexie questioned.

"None. No brain activity. I'm giving it forty eight hours before I recommend we pull the plug but I'm not hopeful." Derek noticed Claire listening intently. "I have an old file I want you to look over. Owen's considering lending you to other departments. I want you to get a feel for neurology before I have you help. I'll be back in a while."

"Well aren't you popular," Lexie teased when Derek was gone.

The board was set and Lexie started the game off by moving her rook. "How's Mr. Clark?" Claire asked.

"Not good. He refuses to believe the fact that his wife is brain dead. He's convinced she will wake up." Lexie moved her pawn forward two spaces. "I feel bad for him because I understand where he is coming from. If it was someone I loved I don't think I would give up hope."

"Hope is one thing Lex but there comes a point when it's time to let go." Claire put her hand to her mouth as a wave of nausea hit her.

Lexie frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah fine. Just felt sick for a second," Claire said waving away Lexie's concern. She lifted the bottle of coke to pass to Lexie but it slipped from her fingers. Her head was pounding.

"Claire," Lexie cried in panic. "What's wrong?"

"I-I…" Claire tried to say. She knew what she wasn't to say but couldn't get the words out. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell back on her pillow unconscious.

"No. Someone page Dr. Shepard," Lexie screamed pushing the table away. She hit the button on the wall signaling a code blue. The alarm went off and seconds later the crash team responded.


	15. Chapter 15

_I am not a doctor, which means some of the medical stuff is bound to be wrong, despite my research._

_Also, after reworking some of the story I've found this will no longer be a Claire/Lexie story. They will be friends but nothing more. It will remain Claire/Madison._

Lexie didn't allow the crash team to get close despite protocol. Her heart wasn't stopping. She didn't need the crash team. She needed a CT and an OR immediately. "Someone get an OR ready," Lexie yelled. "And find Dr. Shepard."

"Dr. Grey you need to allow us to do our jobs," one of the nurses said.

"We don't have time for this," Lexie snapped. "She has a concussion. If we don't get her into surgery she will end up with brain damage or dead."

Derek burst into the room. "What's going on?" He walked over to Claire's side. He opened one eye and waved a flashlight. There was no response. He checked the other eye.

"We were playing chess and she felt nausea. She dropped the bottle and her speech slurred. Then she passed out," Lexie said quickly.

"Pupils are blown. We need to get her to CT now," Derek yelled. "Have an OR ready. She's going to need surgery. Lexie, call Arizona." Lexie was frozen as Derek got the bed ready to move. "Lexie," he snapped.

Lexie left the room to go call Arizona. Arizona was going to kill her. She wasn't supposed to watch out for Claire and make sure she was fine and now… now Claire had to go into surgery. It was her fault. The logical part of her mind knew it wasn't something she could control but the other part blamed herself.

Lexie walked out into the hallway so she could call Arizona. She watched Derek wheel Claire out of her room. Lexie's hands trembled as she dialed Arizona's number.

"Lexie," Arizona greeted. "How's everything?"

Lexie took a deep breath. "Arizona, you need to come back."

Arizona shushed everyone in the background. "What's going on?"

"Derek's taking her to CT," Lexie began.

"No," Arizona shouted into the phone. Lexie winced. "Cerebral edema?"

"Most likely. Derek wants the CT before he operates," Lexie told her.

"Does he have time for that?" Arizona whispered. "She could be brain dead before he gets her to the OR."

"He can't operate until he knows what to operate on," Lexie reminded her. "It's possible it's something else."

"But not likely."

"No, not likely," Lexie agreed.

"We're on our way," Arizona told her before hanging up.

Lexie headed to CT to see if she could get any news on Claire before Arizona arrived. Lexie knew Arizona and she knew the doctor was going to be demanding answers as soon as she arrived. "Lexie," Owen said running up to her. "What the hell happened? I heard the code."

"We were playing chess and something happened," Lexie told him. "Arizona is on her way back and Derek must have her in surgery now. He took her to CT first but she's not there."

"Go wait for Arizona," Owen instructed. "I'll go check on Derek and Claire."

Owen ran to the board which kept track of everyone's surgeries. He scanned the list looking for Derek. He finally found Derek listed in OR 3 performing a decompressive craniectomy. Owen mentally cursed. Decompressive craniectomy's were dangerous in the best of circumstances because of the exposed part of the brain. Still Derek was the best neurosurgeon in the country and Owen had the upmost confidence in him.

Owen made his way down to OR 3. He scrubbed up as quickly and thoroughly as he could before donning a mask and walking inside the operating room.

"How bad?" Owen asked.

Derek didn't look up from his work. "It could be worse but not by much," he answered.

Owen winced. "Arizona is on her way. What do I tell her?"

"Tell her I'm doing everything I can," Derek instructed.

Owen left the OR in search of Lexie. He found her in the waiting area with Arizona, Callie, Madison, Seth and Carlos. "How is she?" Arizona asked standing up.

"Derek's got her in surgery. He's doing everything he can but the procedure is delicate. We won't know anything until she wakes up," Owen explained.

"If she wakes up," Callie finished.

Owen nodded. "As you know there are no guarantees."

"But she will be okay right? If she wakes up," Seth asked.

"We won't know," Owen said sadly. "We will have to wait and see."

Owen left to go check on his own patients leaving the group alone. "Arizona, you should go home and get some rest," Carlos said gently.

Arizona shook her head. "I'm not leaving," she said firmly. "Not until I know Claire is okay."

Callie sighed. Her father was right. Arizona needed some rest. "At least go to the on call room," Callie suggested. "I can come get you as soon as we have news."

Arizona tried to protest but eventually agreed. She was tired and the on call room was her best bet. Callie cupped Seth and Madison's cheeks. "She'll be okay. I'll bring some coffee for you after I take Arizona to the on call room." Callie turned her attention to her father. "I'll be right back. Call me if something happens."

"Everything will be fine Callie," Carlos assured her.

Callie led Arizona to the on call room. She shut and locked the door behind her. "I don't like this Callie," Arizona muttered, sitting on the bed. "What if something happens and I'm not there?"

Callie sat beside her and Arizona leaned on her girlfriend. "Derek is the best neurosurgeon. He will do everything he can to make sure nothing goes wrong. Trust Derek to watch over her. Get some sleep Arizona. I'll come wake you as soon as I know something."

Tempers were running high. Callie was snapping at every intern within eye sight. It got to the point that interns, minus Lexie, avoided coming anywhere near the doctor. Arizona was sleeping peacefully. Lexie would check on her whenever she walked by.

Mark Sloan came and sat with Claire in the waiting room. Owen had begged him to help calm Callie down. Mark in the room had calmed Callie down some but it wasn't enough.

Carlos had excused himself to go call his wife and let her know that he would be staying in Seattle for a while longer. With everything that is going on Carlos was needed here in Seattle more than he was needed in New York. His company would be perfectly find without him. When Claire woke up Carlos planned on speaking with Callie and Arizona to see what they needed him to do.

Madison and Seth had gone home. There was nothing that they could do and Madison's parents were looking for her. Seth wanted to let his parents know what was going on. Both promised to come first thing in the morning.

Derek Shepard took a deep breath as he made his way through the halls of Seattle Grace- Mercy West. It was never easy talking to a family after a surgery like this. This was generally the worst day of a parent's life. That meant emotions ran high and in the case of bad news Derek was blamed for everything, no matter how hard he worked.

Only Callie, Mark and Carlos were in the waiting room. "Derek," Callie said pulling out of Mark's arms so she could stand up.

"I'll go get Arizona," Mark offered.

"Don't say anything," Callie said when Derek opened his mouth to talk. "Arizona needs to be here."

It took ten minutes for Mark to show up with Arizona. Arizona looked better but still worn out. She used her fingers to comb her hair as best as she could. She walked over to Callie and Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona.

"The surgery was successful and Claire is in recovery," Derek announced. "The pressure in her brain started to decrease as soon as I remove the piece of skull however it still isn't where it want it to be."

"When will she wake up?" Arizona asked.

"I don't know," Derek said honestly.

"What happens when she wakes up?" Carlos questioned. "Will she be okay?"

"There's no way to know for sure. She could be fine or she could have brain damage. It is impossible to determine the extent of the damage until she wakes up. I worked as fast and efficiently as I could but the fact is her brain was deprived of oxygen for a while, longer than I would have liked. In my professional opinion it is highly likely she has some type of damage," Derek concluded.

"Can she recover from the damage?" Callie asked.

Derek sighed. "Depending on the extent of the damage it is possible, with therapy, she can recover. I can show you to her room."

Derek led Callie, Arizona and Carlos to Claire's room. She was fast asleep when they got there. Her head was wrapped up in gauze in order to protect the spot that was missing a piece of skull. She was hooked up to every machine imaginable so there was nothing to worry about.

Arizona sat down in the chair beside Claire's bed. She grabbed ahold of Claire's hand. "You're going to be okay," Arizona whispered. "But you need to wake up, soon. Please wake up."

Callie put her hand on Arizona's shoulder. "I'm going to grab a couple cots. I'll be right back."

Arizona nodded but didn't look at Callie. "I'll go with you," Carlos said. He kissed Arizona's cheek and followed Callie out of the room.

"You didn't have to come Papi," Callie said, leading Carlos to the break room where the folding cots were.

"What do you need me to do Calliope?" Carlos asked ignoring Callie's statement. She was his daughter and she needed help, so yes he did need to go with her.

"I don't know," Callie admitted. "I don't know what Arizona needs or what she wants to do. We don't know how bad Claire is or even if she will wake up."

Carlos grabbed Callie's arm and pulled her to the side. "She will wake up," Carlos promised. "When she does wake up tell me what she needs and I will arrange it. I will not allow the two of you to stress over finances."

"You don't have to do that Papi. I have more than enough money," Callie reminded him.

"It's my job mija," Carlos said cupping her cheek.

"Arizona will most likely want to stay home," Callie told him. "But she won't be able to stay home all the time. We might need a nurse. Claire will probably need therapy of some kind, at the very least speech therapy."

"I will take care of the nurse," Carlos informed her. "Let me know about the therapy and I can arrange that as well."

"Thank you Papi," Callie said grateful.

Carlos kissed her cheek. "Come on, let's get some cots."

Carlos and Callie grabbed two cots and carried them to Claire's room. They sat them up on either side of the bed. Arizona hadn't moved from her spot. "Lay down Arizona," Callie said softly. She stroked Arizona's hair.

"I'm fine," Arizona replied.

"What about coffee?" Carlos suggested, in order to stop a potential fight between the lovers.

"That would be wonderful," Arizona said.

Carlos leaned over kissed Arizona's forehead. "I'll be back soon," he promised.

Callie and Arizona sat in silence after Carlos left. Callie didn't know what to say. Arizona was stressed enough as it was and Callie had no desire to make it worse.

"I want to take some time off," Arizona said after several minutes of silence. "Karev can take care of my patients and I can come in for surgeries."

"My dad offered to pay for a nurse to stay with her," Callie told her. "And I can take some time off too."

"You and your dad don't have to do that," Arizona said. "Claire is my responsibility and…"

"Arizona," Callie interrupted. "We want to help and we will. I'll talk to Webber about adjusting my surgeries so I can be off whenever you're in surgery. As for my dad, you know he will never take no for an answer."

"I don't know what to do," Arizona admitted in a whisper.

Callie pulled the other chair beside Arizona. "Right now we need to be happy that she is alive. She will get better Arizona, you just need to have faith."

"You're right." Arizona leaned against Callie. Arizona sighed. "She's not going to be able to play soccer anymore."

"She'll understand Arizona," Callie assured her. "Maybe in a year or so she can play again."

Arizona shook her head. "No. She's not playing again. She almost died Calliope. She's not playing," Arizona repeated.

Callie squeezed her arm. She wasn't going to argue. Arizona was legally Claire's mother and she had every right to keep Claire from playing. There was no point in discussing it further until they knew whether or not Claire could play in the future.

Carlos returned with a tray and three cups of coffee from Starbucks. "You didn't have to leave the hospital," Callie told him.

"This is good coffee," Carlos said passing them the cups. "You two drink enough of that hospital junk when I'm not around. I refuse to buy it."

Derek entered the room twenty minutes later to check on Claire. He went a couple standard tests, something he would do every hour or so. "No change," Derek announced before Callie or Arizona could ask.

"How long do we have to wait?" Arizona asked impatiently.

"I don't know," Derek replied. "She could wake up at any time. For now her body is recovering. I don't expect her to wake any sooner than tomorrow evening and even then it is doubtful."

Arizona sighed. "Sorry Derek. I know you're doing everything you can."

"It's fine Arizona. I know how stressed you are," Derek said patting her shoulder. "I'll be back in an hour."

Derek went to check on some of his other patients, leaving Callie, Arizona and Carlos alone.


End file.
